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BY 

JOHN L, HOG AN 




Class_:RJ_tOfc 

Book ,H^ 

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COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



CHILDREN'S DIET 



IN 



HOME AND SCHOOL 

WITH CLASSIFIED RECIPES AND MENUS 



A REFERENCE BOOK FOR PARENTS, NURSES, 
TEACHERS, WOMEN'S CLUBS, AND PHYSICIANS 



BY 

MRS. JOHN L HOGAN 

(LOUISE E. HOGAN) 

Editor of ''The Children's Library/' and Author of " How to Feed 

Children," "A Study of a Child," Gov. Bulletin No. 56 on 

" The Introduction of Domestic Science in the Schools 

of New York City," " Stories for Children," " The 

Education and Amusement of Children," Etc. 



PHILADELPHIA 

HENRY T. COATES & CO, 

1902 



THr~UBRARY OF 

CONGRESS, 
Two Copies Received 

JUL 30 1902 

Copyright entry 
CLASS C^XXo, No. 

3 Ur t O S~ 

- COPY B. 






Copyright, 1902. by 
HENRY T. COATES & CO. 



CONTENTS. 



Reasons for a Study of the Uses of Food, . 
Milk for Infants : 

a. Nursing and Mother's Food, 

b. Weaning and Use of Starch Foods, 

c. Care of Milk, Bottles, etc., 
Foods for the Second Year, 
Alternating Menus for Months 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 

20 to 30, 

Food after Thirty Months, . 

Menus from the Third to the Fifth Year, 

Sample Menus for Children from Five to Seven who are in 

Average Health, .... 

Menus for Children from Seven Years to Twelve, 
Classified Breakfasl, Dinner and Supper Menus, 
Lists of Foods Forbidden by all Physicians before Second 

Dentition, ....... 

Explanatory Lists of the Various Classes of Foods 
Summer Diet, .... 

Winter Diet, .... 

Food in Illness, .... 

Rules for Cases in Poisoning, 

School Luncheons, 

Supplementary Feeding for Feeble and Average School Chil 

dren, 
Recipes, . . . . . 
Index, ..... 

(iu) 



PAGE 

I 

9 

16 
30 

34 
39 

45 

47 
47 
47 

49 
5o 
52 
61 

67 

77 
79 

81 
100 

165 



PREFACE. 



A further study of the practical outcome of the sub- 
jects taken up in How to Feed Children,* and the cor- 
dial reception given that book by the medical profession, 
combined with the requests of parents, nurses, teachers, 
clubs and physicians for an inexpensive handbook that 
would follow out in detail the principles advanced in 
the larger work, lead me to offer the following book, 
in the hope that it may sufficiently meet the needs of 
those who have asked for it, and who, it would seem, 
realize very fully how, under conditions of health as 
well as in illness, they may assist and often control a 
child's mental, physical and moral growth through the 
care which depends so much upon simple, wholesome 
food, well-selected, well-prepared, and carefully given. 

Since mothers and teachers are beginning to under- 
stand what physicians have long been advocating, 
namely, that in careful feeding we have an immense 
developing power in childhood, it is hoped that the 
following working-out in detail of the principles ad- 

* Practical Lessons in Nursing Series, J. B. Lippincott Co. 

(v) 



vi PREFACE 

vanced may save labor upon the part of those who are 
interested, and that they will welcome the relief offered 
them in this little handbook when they learn that all 
the matter offered has received the endorsement of 
eminent members of the medical profession, many of 
whom are named in connection with certain sections. 
It may interest them further to learn that these same 
authorities are ready to aid in preparing a similar 
handbook that will cover periods of disease, for which 
reason this phase of the subject has been taken up in a 
general way only in the present volume. 

The author is greatly indebted for suggestion and 
guidance in the revision of this MS. to Rowland God- 
frey Freeman, M.D., of New York, Professor Samuel 
Train Dutton, Supt. Horace Mann School, Columbia 
University, Edgar Dubs Shimer, Ph.D., Assoc. Supt. 
New York Public Schools, and also in the preparation of 
the earlier work, on which this book is based, to T. M. 
Rotch, M.D., of Boston, author of "Pediatrics," Leroy 
M. Yale, M.D., of New York, Medical Editor of " Baby- 
hood/' Samuel S. Adams, M.D., of Washington, and 
W. Gilman Thompson, M.D., of New York, author 

of " Practical Dietetics. ' ' 

Louise E. Hogan. 
New York, May, 1902. 



CHILDREN'S DIET 



IN THE 



HOME AND SCHOOL, 

WITH 

CLASSIFIED RECIPES AND MENUS, 



Some Reasons for a Study of the Uses of 
Food. — Everyone who has the care of children finds 
out, through experience, that it is necessary to select the 
foods that are suitable for their requirements. It is 
now very generally believed that the old idea of giving 
children the same food as adults was dangerous. It 
has, perhaps, been too frequently the custom amongst 
adults to think that anything that is provided for them- 
selves in the way of food might be given with impu- 
nity to children, forgetting that the food an adult can 
receive and assimilate can easily do harm to the tender 
organs of the child depending so largely for its devel- 
opment upon care in this direction. It is not only that 
the child's proper development may be retarded by 
carelessness and ignorance at this period of life, but 
disease is sure to follow such practices. Growth and 
waste and repair go on in a nearly uniform way the 

I (i) 



2 CHILDREN' S DIET 

whole year through, but the amount of food necessary 
for this work is surprisingly small. The great surgeon, 
Abernethy, said that one-fourth of what we eat keeps 
us, and the other three-fourths we keep at the peril of 
our lives. In winter we burn up the surplus food with 
a limited amount of extra exertion. In summer we get 
rid of it literally at some extra risk to health, and, of 
course, to life. We cannot burn it. Our vital furnaces 
are banked, and we worry the most important working- 
organs with the extra exertion of removing what would 
better never have been taken into the stomach. 

Important Points to Know. — We know that a 
nourishing diet must be supplied for the entire season 
of youth, beginning with the proper care, during in- 
fancy, of the food then required. We also know that, 
as a child grows, we can add stronger and stronger foods, 
watching by-results until the time comes that it can safely 
take what is prepared for all. A few of the most im- 
portant points to keep in mind under all conditions and 
through all ages are these : First, we must never forget 
that through eating the child replaces waste caused by the 
constant action and change going on in the organs, and 
that we do not want to increase waste, which causes ill- 
ness; hence, we must not over -feed. Second, if the child 1 s 
digestion is normal, and its life is an active and out-of- 
door one, we can give it stronger food, and more food 
than we would if it lived under other conditions, namely, 
in a warmer climate, or if leading a quiet life. Third, 
if a child's condition is a little below normal, or if at 



PRINCIPLES OF FOOD ACTION 3 

all times its digestive power is not strong, we must give 
particular attention to the quantity supplied and the in- 
tervals of feeding. Fourth, the diet must be well bal- 
anced, which means that we must have the right pro- 
portion of the parts given for the building of the body 
— namely, eggs, milk, meat, etc. — the right proportion 
of food which gives energy and keeps it warm ; and we 
must also know how to supply as nearly as possible the 
same materials that the body is regularly losing ; as, for 
instance, we give heat-forming food in cold weather and 
liquid in hot weather. Drink constitutes food, as well 
as what we eat. Rules given should not be considered 
inflexible, to be followed implicitly, but should be sug- 
gestive. Mothers should patiently try to find out the 
peculiarities and food idiosyncrasies of their children, 
and accommodate themselves to them precisely as they 
do in regard to their clothing, etc. Dr. Eustace Smith 
says : ' ' The successful rearing of an infant by artificial 
means is not a difficult matter. It requires intelligence 
and tact ; but, above all, it requires watchfulness. If 
we are vigilant to detect the first signs of discomfort, 
and at once modify the diet accordingly, we may be sure 
of preserving a healthy tone in the stomach and ward- 
ing off all the accidents to which a child less carefully 
nurtured might possibly succumb. " 

Ease for Mother who Understands the Prin- 
ciples of Food Action. — As each class of foods 
serves its own peculiar purpose in the body, it can 
readily be seen why it is necessary for a mother to un- 



4 CHILDREN' S DIE T 

derstand, or at least be advised by some one who knows, 
something about foods and their action. Many mothers 
may say that they do not cook the food their children 
eat ; others that they do not care to, or that they do 
not have the time to. Probably, under certain condi- 
tions of life, this may be true and unavoidable. It is 
not actually necessary, however, for the mother to cook 
what is given to the child, to have it well-fed ; she 
should know, however, just what to select under certain 
conditions, and exactly how it should be prepared, if 
possible. If she cannot understand so much as this, 
she should at least know how food should be when it is 
properly cooked, in order to require its proper prepara- 
tion when obliged to judge by results alone. A little 
supervision, judiciously applied, will often prevent diffi- 
culties that are likely to occur as a result not only of 
carelessness upon the part of servants, but many times 
from lack of definite direction. Given a handbook of 
the necessary character, any careful servant, with a few 
directive words or marks from her mistress, could carry 
an average child safely through a day, or longer, and 
thus give the mother leisure for many things which, 
under ordinary conditions, she might be obliged to 
forego if at all conscientious about what is being given 
to her child at the nursery table. 

In cases of illness, where a mother naturally feels 
that personal supervision is absolutely necessary, she 
should watch that temperament is considered and likings 
consulted ; that the food be more daintily prepared ; 



HOW UNDIGESTED FOOD DOES HARM 5 

that the child be fed more frequently and less at a 
time; that more liquid food be given — more water, 
perhaps, under certain conditions of weakness, the 
giving of which is of great importance. 

Use of Water. — Anyone who has watched the 
average care of children will agree that it is not unusual 
to deprive infants almost entirely of water because they 
drink milk ; the fact being overlooked that milk, al- 
though a liquid out of the body, becomes in the 
stomach a solid food. This is a common error, and 
one which causes many conditions of illness. 

How Undigested Food Does Harm. — The 
sum and substance of all the study one can give to the 
subject is, that if the food is not such as digestion can 
master at the time it is useless, and can only do harm, 
whether for an infant or for an adult. Not being turned 
to proper account, the blood receives no new supply 
and is impoverished ; the body is not nourished or de- 
veloped, and inherited tendencies are given an oppor- 
tunity to force their way to the front. Many diseases 
to which children are liable — more especially those 
during the school age, when young people are under 
the greatest pressure, owing to the craze for mental 
growth at the expense of physical development — would 
be liable to disappear under strict supervision of hygiene 
and diet. This is also true of the various infantile dis- 
orders, catarrhal and nervous troubles. The average 
mother finds more difficulty in feeding her children sat- 
isfactorily than in any other direction in home work. 



6 CHILDREN' S DIE T 

This she may do in two ways : Directly, in which event 
she is fully aware of it, or indirectly, when she is only 
brought to this knowledge by an understanding of the 
underlying causes of nervous, irritable, peevish and other 
feverish conditions, which are largely brought about by 
malnutrition. 

Tissue Starvation.— Those who know what tissue 
starvation is, understand the principles of food nutrition. 
Those who do not, fondly yet delusively imagine that 
eating means nourishing. Sometimes it does mean this ; 
but more frequently, with children, it does not. It is 
not what one eats, but what one digests, that tells the 
story in ruddy cheeks, pink ears and lips, sound teeth, 
sound sleep, bright eyes, even tempers, straight limbs 
and active minds. What one eats and does not digest 
tells quite another story, namely, pale faces, sleepy eyes, 
fretful dispositions, flabby flesh, flat chests, sleepless 
nights, etc. 

Want of sufficient exercise diminishes tissue change. 
This is what causes tissue starvation — improper food 
and lack of hygienic care, with lack of sufficient exer- 
cise. The subject is one of so many sides that one can 
only take up generalization at first, until food-principles 
have become so deeply imbedded in our minds that we 
can then study how to apply these principles to indi- 
vidual cases, which is the chief value of the entire study 
of foods and nutrition. It is not what we know about 
it, but what we know and do, that makes a study of value 
from a practical standpoint, and cooking should be con- 



DISEASE CA USED B Y ERRORS IN DIET y 

sidered a branch of practical physiological chemistry, 
and be duly recognized as such. 

Disease Caused by Errors in Diet. — Perhaps 
the following words of Sir Henry Thompson, the famous 
English authority on Food, are truer than we think. He 
says : "I have come to the conclusion that more than 
half the disease which pertains to the middle and latter 
half of life is due to avoidable errors in diet ; and that 
more mischief, in the form of actual disease, of impaired 
vigor and of shortened life, accrues to civilized man from 
erroneous habits of eating than from the habitual use of 
alcoholic drinks, considerable as I know that evil to be. ! ' 
Herbert Spencer says : " Perhaps nothing will so 
much hasten the time when body and mind will both be 
adequately cared for as a diffusion of the belief that the 
preservation of health is a duty. Few seem conscious 
that there is such a thing as physical morality. Men's 
habitual words and acts imply that they are at liberty to 
treat their bodies as they please. The fact is, all 
breaches of the law are physical sins. When this is 
generally seen, then, and perhaps not till then, will the 
physical training of the young receive all the attention 
it deserves." Froebel said, fifty years ago, "The 
child,, the boy, the man, indeed, should know no other 
endeavor but to be at every stage of development 
wholly what this stage calls for ; the earlier stage for 
human development and cultivation is always the more 
important. In its place and time each stage is equally 
important, but of the first (upon which future normal, 



8 CHILDREN'S DIET 

physical and mental growth depends so largely) there 
can be no question of its importance ; hence, upon 
mothers rests the responsibility for the first step, for 
they have the first opportunity. The child's food is a 
matter of very great importance, not only at the time 
(for the child may, by its food, be made indolent or 
active, sluggish or mobile, dull or bright, inert or vig- 
orous), but, indeed, for his entire life. Parents and 
nurses should ever remember, as underlying every pre- 
cept in this direction, the general principles that sim- 
plicity and frugality in food and in other physical needs 
during the years of childhood enhance man's power of 
attaining happiness and vigor — true creativeness in 
every respect. If parents would consider that not only 
much individual and personal happiness, but even much 
domestic happiness and general prosperity, depend on 
this, how very differently they would act ; but here the 
foolish mother, there the childish father, is to blame. 
We see them give their children all kinds of poison, and 
in every form, coarse and fine." If one may judge 
from expressions such as these, there would seem to be 
a reproach cast upon those who are responsible for the 
proper care of children. Let us see to it, then, as 
mothers and caretakers of children, that it is not resting 
at our doors. 



NURSING AND MOTHERS FOOD 



Nursing and Mother's Food. 

Ideal Conditions for Nursing. — A large number 
of infants are deprived unnecessarily of their natural 
food. As knowledge increases, this will undoubtedly 
occur less frequently. To nurse a child normally, a 
mother should be strong and healthy ; have an even, 
happy temperament \ be desirous of nursing her infant, 
and able to devote herself to this special duty. She 
should be willing to regulate her diet, her exercise and 
her sleep, according to rules laid down by physicians. 
These may be said to be ideal conditions. Many women, 
however, who are far from vigorous, may nurse their 
infants with good result. One point to remember is, 
that the temperament must be controlled. Detail af- 
fairs in life must not be allowed to hurry anything 
touching the infant. Periods of rest must be regular, 
and diet should be such as will keep the body at the 
highest possible point of normal health. 

Exercise for Nursing Mother. — Exercise should 
be constant and sufficient. It has been shown that a case 
of convulsions in a child was controlled by the return to 
a daily walk of a mother who gave up her habitual exer- 
cise because of wearing a tight pair of shoes. Her phy- 
sician discovered, by the results in the child, that she 
was neglecting her daily exercise, and a close examina- 
tion of the mother's actions brought forth an unwilling 
confession that she had not taken her usual walk because 



! o CHILDREN' S DIE T 

of this reason. Had she known the principles underly- 
ing food-action, she might have reasoned out for herself 
that, because of lack of exercise, the milk she was feed- 
ing to her infant was becoming too concentrated and 
needed more water, and she could have given the child 
a drink of water before nursing it, which would have 
corrected the evil. This is one instance, only, to show 
a thinking mother why it is worth while occasionally to 
understand the principles of things in order that she 
may help herself, when, under other conditions, she 
might have to call a physician, or perhaps cause her 
child to suffer. 

Reasons for Not Nursing. — It is of great im- 
portance that mothers who are suffering from some 
chronic disease, or one which their infants may directly 
inherit, should give up all thought of nursing their 
children. 

Nursing Diet for Mother. — Taking it for granted 
that a child is being nursed, under whatever condition 
of life for the mother, the following points are to be 
remembered : The mother's diet should not include too 
much meat and solid food ; an abundant light diet 
should be given at first, such as milk gruels, soups, 
vegetables, bread and butter, and, after the first week, 
a small amount of meat once a day ; increased diet as 
the exercise increases, using plain but nutritious foods, 
taking regular meals, and sometimes using, between 
mealtimes, coffee, hot milk, or cocoa. 

Use no stimulants. 



INTER VALS FOR NURSING x T 

Malt extracts are useful, and milk taken at night is to 
be advocated. 

Idiosyncrasies are to be looked for, and if certain 
articles disagree with certain women, and, consequently, 
with their children, they should be omitted ; but they 
need not be forbidden to all women on that account.. 
Dr. Rotch says that an average woman should use a 
plain, mixed diet, with a moderate excess of fluids and 
proteids over what she is normally accustomed to. 

How to Feed an Infant the First Two or 
Three Days. — If, during the first two or three days 
of the life of the infant, it is restless, and evidently 
hungry, on account of the mother's inability to supply 
milk, one or two drams of a five-per-cent. milk-sugar 
solution, made by dissolving milk-sugar in sterilized 
water, should be given at intervals of two or three 
hours. If the mother's milk is delayed still longer, it 
will be necessary to depend upon the physician, who 
should specify exactly what is to be given. 

Intervals for Nursing. — The intervals constitute a 
very important part in infant feeding. Dr. Rotch 
gives the following table : 

Age. 

From birth to 4 weeks, 
From 4 to 6 weeks, 
From 6 to 8 weeks, 
From 2 to 4 months, 
From 4 to 10 months, 
From 10 to 12 months, 





Number of 


Number of 


Intervals. 


Feedings in 


Night Feed 




24 Hours. 


ings. 


2 hours 


IO 


I 


2 hours 


9 


I 


2 l / 2 hours 


8 


I 


2}/z hours 


7 


O 


3 hours 


6 


O 


3 hours 


5 


O 



1 2 CHILDREN' S DIE T 

Night Feeding. — Note that night feedings are 
omitted at two to four months. The mother may thus 
have continuous sleep at night. The regularity of 
proper intervals in the feeding of infants influences 
greatly the comfort alike of mother and child. Dr. 
Freeman allows two night feedings from birth to 4 weeks, 
and makes interval 4 hours, instead of 3, from 10 to 12 
months. 

Too frequent nursing renders milk too solid, lessens 
the water, and gives the child colic. Too long intervals 
makes the milk too watery, and fails to give it its neces- 
sary nutrition. 

Weight and Nutrition. — Increase of weight is 
the best evidence as to nutrition. Dr. Edward T. 
Davis says : "A child may gain, by proper food, from 
a half ounce to an ounce daily for the first four or five 
months, and half the amount for the rest of the year. 
If at any time the child does not gain in weight, and 
the mother's milk seems insufficient, it would be proper 
to add to the breast-feedings a properly prepared milk 
made up according to the formula of a reputable physi- 
cian. If teething is delayed, it is an evidence of poor 
feeding." 

Growth. — The well-nourished child should grow 
about eight inches the first year, or nearly three-fourths 
of an inch every month, and four inches the second 
year — not quite half an inch a month. An infant 
should double its weight in five months and treble it in 
the year. It should be weighed and measured monthly. 



METHOD FOR SUBSTITUTING BOTTLE FOOD 



13 



If it does not increase at the rate of about a pound a 
month the first year, and about twelve ounces a month 
the second, in all probability its food will be found at 
fault. 

Weaning. — Under all circumstances, even if a 
mother is healthy and the milk is good, the child 
should have been weaned by the end of the first year, 
often at the seventh to eighth month. It should usually 
be taking by this time plain cow's milk, with a starchy 
food of some kind. When a child has six or eight in- 
cisor teeth it is usually supposed to be able to digest 
starchy food. Some physicians advocate the use of 
starchy foods much earlier than others ; but it depends 
very largely upon the condition of the child and the 
preparation of the starchy food. All these matters may 
be regulated by carefully watching the child's develop- 
ment from week to week in weight, general condition, 
restlessness, etc. It is always preferable to wean the 
child in cool weather, and when it is not cutting teeth. 
It should never be weaned suddenly. 

Method for Substituting Bottle Food.— The 
food substituted should be given very gradually. What- 
ever preparation is used should be given first at but one 
feeding a day, nursing at the other usual hours, until 
the child shows that there has been no disturbance from 
this slight change. This may require from two to three 
days. Taking it for granted that there has been no 
disturbance dumng this time with the use of one bottle 
of prepared milk, it will be safe to introduce another, 



14 



CHILDREN'S DIET 



not at the hour for feeding which is directly after the 
hour when the first bottle was used, but at an hour di- 
viding the bottle feedings evenly throughout the day by 
giving one in the morning and one in the evening. 
Many mothers who have given attention to this sub- 
ject in a careful way have learned that by giving the first 
bottle in the evening they themselves can secure the rest 
they often need, and that the child is quiet throughout 
the night because it has had a comfortable meal. It is 
possible to absolutely control the condition of milk 
that is thus given ; and as it may not always be possible 
for a woman to control her whole day when she is nurs- 
ing her child, her own tired condition at the end of 
the day may be the cause for a fitful, restless night upon 
the part of the child, the last feeding of the child 
having been a disturbed one. It is well known to phy- 
sicians that an emotional mother or an overtired nursing 
mother will frequently have a crying child at night. 
This can usually be avoided as soon as supplementary 
feeding is begun : hence it is always best to begin any 
change by giving the first bottle at night time. The 
milk must have been cared for sufficiently to keep it 
absolutely sweet throughout the day. 

(See paragraphs given to care of milk, showing how 
this may be done, p. 16.^ 

If two bottle feedings a day, replacing two nursings, 
are found to agree with the child, then three may be 
used, and so on, until every meal is being given from 
the bottle. 



STARCH FOODS FOR INFANTS 



is 



Changing from Prepared Milk to Plain Cow's 
Milk. — Should this milk feeding for weaning be prepared 
according to a physician's prescription, the change must 
even then be made from the modified milk to plain cow's 
milk just as gradually as the change has been made from 
nursing to the modified milk ; that is, one bottle of 
modified milk should be replaced with the plain milk, 
and, upon finding it agreeing, two bottles daily should 
be used, and so on. 

Home Preparation of Starch Foods for In- 
fants. — One point to be emphasized in substitute feed- 
ing is that artificial foods need never be used, because, 
with a little care at home, cereals and cow's milk maybe 
prepared in such a way as to be safely used at all times. 

The first starch foods to be used are usually prepara- 
tions of barley and oatmeal, made according to the 
formulae of a reputable physician. 

Starch foods imperfectly cooked undergo fermenta- 
tion ; hence such formulae call for long and careful 
cooking. 

For Dr. Rotch's recipe for Oat Jelly, to be used in 
the first year, see page 117. 

For Malted Gruel, see page 115. 

For Oatmeal Gruel, see page 113. 

For Oatmeal and Graham Flour Gruel, see 
page 113. 

For Barley Gruel, see page 114. 

For Farina Gruel, see page 114. 

For Arrowroot Gruel, see page 115. 



1 6 CHILDREN' S DIE T 

Great Care of Milk and Bottles necessary. — 

Comparatively few people stop to consider how very 
quickly dangerous changes take place in milk, and how 
readily it becomes contaminated. The carelessness so 
frequently shown by milkmen, maids and nurses plays 
an important part in infant mortality. 

Requirements for Pure Milk. — It is generally 
conceded, to-day, as the result of much investigation 
upon the part of philanthropists, scientists and physi- 
cians, that it is imperative that the cows supplying the 
milk receive the care required to supply as pure and 
clean a milk as it is possible to procure ; that the milk 
be properly handled and cared for, and be kept cold ; 
that the cream be separated from the milk by a separator 
especially adapted for the purpose ; that all the ingredi- 
ents used in modifying milk be perfectly sterile ; and 
that everything that can possibly touch the food of a 
child be clean, sweet and wholesome. When this can 
be depended upon wherever a child's food is to be found, 
we will begin to see the spreading of its influence in a 
marked degree upon the health of the children of not 
only the poor in large cities, who have now to struggle 
as best they can against sour milk, heat, dust, and ten- 
ement life, and all the evils and discomforts that attend 
the very poor, but upon many children in all classes of 
life who to-day give evidence, from the richest to the 
poorest, of not only lack of cleanliness, sweetness and 
wholesomeness in their food, but of great and culpable 
carelessness. 



WHY MILK IS PASTE URIZED t ? 

What is a Good Food for Baby. — Dr. Jacobi 
says, "A good food for the baby does not mean one 
which simply doesn't kill ; it is one which permits a 
child to grow up healthy and strong. ' ' It may be well 
to remember this statement under discouraging condi- 
tions when advocating more care of children's food. 

Why Milk is Pasteurized. — It is not generally 
known that every year, in the United States alone, 
many thousands of children die for want of care in the 
preparation and administration of their food. Every 
year, however, more attention is being given to purity 
of milk and to the possibility of keeping it sweet for 
the length of time required for commercial purposes. 
It is recognized, however, that infected milk is one of 
the chief sources of contagion in various diseases ; and 
for this reason many physicians advocate the application 
of sufficient heat, 155 F. for 30 minutes, which kills 
those germs which are dangerous to the child without 
destroying the quality of the milk as a food, which a 
higher degree of heat would do. This is the most avail- 
able practical way for preventing contagion and keeping 
milk sweet under conditions that are not ideal. Should 
we have the conditions we desire, it might not be nec- 
essary to do this, because the inspections of cattle and 
milk would be so thorough that there could be less pos- 
sibility of contagion of tuberculosis or other disease ; the 
care of dairies, farms, etc., would be so rigidly guarded 
by the inspectors that they could not possibly be infected 
by excreta and other causes that bring danger to the 

2 



! 8 CHILDREN' S DIE T 

infant. Again, city laws would be so carefully admin- 
istered that all vendors of milk would be prevented from 
adding impure water and preservatives to the milk which 
reaches the child as its food. I mention impure water 
because, if they added pure water and allowed it to be 
known, it would save others the trouble of adding it to 
correct the excess of cheese which is, in all cow's milk, 
the stumbling block in an infant's food. 

Failing all of these, the application of heat is still 
the mother's only safeguard when she wants to protect 
her child from impure or uncertified milk ; but she must 
not overlook the fact that she is adding dangers of an- 
other character, which, however, she can meet by con- 
sultation with a careful physician, or by studying for 
herself how to supply what is lost by this process of 
heating milk. 

Points to Remember. — A few cardinal points to 
remember in the care of milk for use in the nursery are 
these : Never leave milk uncovered ; keep it in as cool 
a place as possible ; get certified milk wherever it can be 
had, in place of the ordinary commercial milk ; but heat 
any kind immediately upon receipt, if you realize that 
you cannot control the conditions alluded to above. 

Apparatus for Heating Milk. — Taking it for 
granted that, under some circumstances, milk may not 
be so well cared for as to be free from dangerous bacte- 
ria, nor that cows are known by test to be free from 
tuberculosis, it is advisable to know how to apply heat 
to milk, if it must be used under such conditions. There 



APPARATUS FOR HEATING MILK jg 

are a number of contrivances in the market for this pur- 
pose. A temperature must be reached that is sufficiently 
high to kill those developed bacteria which would be of 
any harm to the digestion of an infant, and, at the same 
time, it must be low enough to prevent the changes that 
are acknowledged by nearly all physicians to be unde- 
sirable in an infant's food — changes that are caused by 
the temperature formerly advised for destruction of 
germs existing in milk, namely, 212 F. The tempera- 
ture of 155° F. for 30 minutes, which is now advised, 
allows the milk to remain practically fresh and uncooked, 
yet still be sufficiently sterile. In some cases the higher 
degree of 2 1 2 must be used \ as, for instance, in cases 
of journey, where the milk must, for unavoidable reasons, 
be kept for a period longer than twenty-four hours ; but, 
for ordinary usage in a family, this temperature need not 
be considered except under physicians' advice. In cases 
of summer complaint in early infancy, the higher tem- 
perature is sometimes desirable, and recommended by 
physicians. 

The degree of 155 F. for 30 minutes may be applied 
to the entire mixture of ingredients called for under 
formulae given by various physicians, including lime- 
water, which is always changed with a higher tempera- 
ture. 

The various devices offered for the application of an 
exact degree of heat to milk are well known. The pas- 
teurizer designed by Dr. Rowland Godfrey Freeman, 
of New York, who prepared the formulae used at the 



2 o CHILDREN' S DIE T 

famous milk booths, supported for the benefit of chil- 
dren by Nathan Strauss, has been made with a view of 
carrying out requirements to an exact point without the 
use of a thermometer or any detail which may be a 
burden to the caretaker. 

Exact directions are given with each of these devices, 
and any one of them may readily be procured at any 
drug store. 

By direction of the Secretary of Agriculture of the 
United States Government a circular has been issued 
showing how a proper degree of heat may be applied to 
milk in a very easy manner. This circular may be had 
free upon application to Dr. Salmon, Dept. of Agricul- 
ture, Washington, D. C. Should it be impossible to 
secure any apparatus suitable for the purpose, try some 
means with ordinary kitchen utensils by which the inner 
vessel holding the milk to be heated may be half an 
inch from the bottom of the outer vessel holding hot 
water, and allow the hot water to reach at least half as 
high as the milk does in the inner vessel. Cook for 
half an hour in this way, and cool very quickly. Only 
a fair degree of safety may be thus assured when milk 
is doubtful, but it is infinitely better than to take 
chances by not heating at all, when milk is suspected 
of contamination. 

Care of Nipples. — The care of bottles, nipples, 
etc., is naturally an important part in infants' feeding. 
Smooth, seamless nipples are preferable to those which 
are seamed, as they are easily cleaned, and do not col- 



CARE OF BOTTLES 2 1 

lapse. When cleaned and dried they should be kept in 
a covered box or dish, or wrapped up in a clean nap- 
kin, and just before using one it should be dipped in 
boiling water. This latter point must not be omitted. 
The usual plan is to keep them in a tumbler of water 
containing soda, which is rarely satisfactory. Experi- 
ence has shown the above plan to be the preferable one. 
The writer once discovered a supposedly careful monthly 
nurse not turning the nipples when washing them, and 
her given reason for not doing so was that she thought 
it was not really necessary. It might be to the point 
to add that the child she nursed was made ill by this 
carelessness, which was a result that might readily have 
been expected. 

Care of Bottles. — Milk -bottles can be thoroughly 
cleaned by rinsing first with cold water, then washing 
with hot soapsuds and a bottle-brush that is clean. The 
brush requires as much care as the bottles, a fact that 
is sometimes overlooked. Rinse the bottles, both in- 
side and out, in an abundance of flowing clean water, 
preferably under the cold-water faucet, and examine 
each bottle carefully to see that there is no cloudiness 
or speck of milk remaining. They may then be placed 
in the rack and set in a moderately hot oven for an 
hour, when they will be sterile and ready for use. They 
may also be put over a fire in a boiler filled with cold 
water, to boil for half an hour, when they should be 
carefully drained and kept free from dust. Experiment 
will show that the oven method is preferable, as the 



2 2 CHILDREN' S DIE T 

bottles are dry and ready to be put away when removed 
from the oven. Care should be taken to cool the oven 
slightly by opening the door a few minutes before re- 
moving the hot bottles. This will prevent the cracking 
that might result upon sudden exposure to the colder 
air of the room. 

Care of Unwashed Empty Bottles. — After an 
infant has been fed, the empty or half-empty bottle of 
milk should not be allowed to stand for any length of 
time. It should be emptied directly, or as soon as possi- 
ble, and be rinsed with cold water. It may then await a 
convenient time for washing the entire number used that 
day. A careful nursery-maid will, however, wash and 
heat the bottles as fast as they are emptied, which is 
decidedly the best plan. Physicians and fathers know, 
if no one else does, how frequently the presence of a 
baby in the house insures the appearance at all times 
and in all places of half-empty or unclean -looking milk- 
bottles, which undoubtedly cause much of the illness 
usually ascribed either to the visitation of Providence 
or to a supposedly impure supply of milk. Careful 
observation will convince many that not one cause alone 
is the source of evils met with constantly in infant 
feeding. 

Intervals. — The intervals in substitute feeding must 
be carefully considered. Dr. Rotch's table for intervals 
in breast-feeding applies equally to substitute feeding. 
His table for amounts is as follows : 



INTERVALS 



GENERAL RULES FOR FEEDING DURING THE FIRST YEAR. 

The day feedings are supposed to begin with the 6 A. M. feeding and 
to end zvith the 10 P.M. feeding. 







<*- a . 


t+- 








•* 


O •-> cfl 









Age.i 


1A ^ 

TO l_i 

£ 3 


Number 
Feedings 
24 Hour 


ber 
ight 
ling; 


Amount at 
each 


Total Amount 


u 




Feeding. 


in 24 Hours. 










C. C. 


Oz. 


C. C. 


Oz. 


i week 


2 


10 


I 


30 


1 


300 


10 


2 weeks . 








2 


10 


I 


45 


1% 


450 


15 


4 weeks . 








2 


9 


I 


75 


*v* 


675 


22% 


6 weeks 








2% 


8 


I 


90 


3 


720 


24 


8 weeks 








■K 


8 


O 


100 


3^ 


840 


28 


3 months . 








2 J A 


7 


O 


120 


4 


840 


28 


4 months . 








* l A 


7 


O 


i35 


4K 


945 


3i% 


5 months . 








3 


6 


O 


165 


5Y2 


990 


33 


6 months . 








3 


6 


O 


i75 


5% - 


1035 


34^ 


7 months . 








3 


6 


O 


190 


6U 


1125 


37% 


8 months . 








3 


6 


O 


210 


7 


1260 


42 


9 months . 








3 


6 


O 


210 


7 


1260 


42 


io months . 








3 


5 


O 


255 


*% 

m 


1275 


42K 
435i 


ii months . 








3 


5 


O 


265 


1312 


12 months . 








3 


5 


O 


270 


9 


1350 


45 



The above table is given as a. safe average to begin 
with. Dr. Rotch says it is so important to avoid 
stretching an organ so easily distensible as the stomach 
that it is wiser to give too little rather than too much 
food in the early days of life. An unusually heavy 
child might require a little more ; for instance, a child 
weighing ten pounds at birth would, according to tables 
regulated by weight, require 1 }4 ounces instead of 1 
ounce at a feeding, if in a healthy condition ; but this the 
attending physician should determine. He advises the 
use of a set of graduated feeding-tubes during the more 
important periods of growth, for the purpose of continu- 



24 



CHILDREN'S DIET 



ally impressing upon the mother and nurse what the 
physician often has the opportunity of telling them only 
at the beginning of the nursing period, — namely, that 








CD 

JStvS 





i 

i 

1 




00 
0^ 




the error is in giving too much food rather than too 
little. This error naturally results when, as is commonly 
the case, the usual eight-ounce nursing-bottle is used at 
the very beginning of infantile life. 



INTERVALS 



25 



He says he has found that he can easily convince 
most mothers of the mistaken zeal of nurses who advo- 
cate giving the young infant large amounts of food, by 
showing them the size of the infant's stomach at birth 
(A), and comparing a small tube (B), which corre- 
sponds to the stomach's capacity with an eight-ounce 
nursing-bottle. 

If my readers think they can decide for themselves 




upon "what to feed the baby," it is to be hoped that 
they will bear in mind the following facts : that it is at 
all times advisable (i) to use certified milk or heat 
other milk to 155° F. for 30 minutes, (2) to dilute 
milk with boiled water for the first nine or ten months 
of an infant's life,, beginning with at least half water to 
half milk for an infant one month old, (3) to add cream 



26 



CHILDREN' S DIE T 



to each bottle of diluted milk in order to supply the fat 
lost by dilution, (4) to add milk-sugar and a little lime 
water, according to some reputable physician's formula, 



B 



Z> 



,»%.«*. 



or that of a milk-laboratory, and (5) to add carefully 
prepared cereal foods very gradually at the proper time, 
as advised by the family physician. 



MENUS 27 

Menus. 

Cereals. — Cereals are a necessary food for growing 
children. They promote fine muscular development. 
Starch being the predominant constituent, it is evident 
that great care must be exercised in cooking the various 
grains allowable in the nursery, remembering also that 
long cooking increases digestibility. It is important to 
know what you want to accomplish when cooking ce- 
reals. All starchy foods should be cooked long enough 
to be put in a condition to be easily acted upon by the 
digestive juices. The purpose in preparing them is to 
secure the bursting of the granules and the liberation of 
the starch by the highest temperature it is possible to 
reach, that it may be acted upon by the heat and be par- 
tially changed into a substance called dextrine, which 
is easily digested. An extremely high and prolonged 
temperature is required for this change, without which 
cereals are not nutritious, and are likely to cause diges- 
tive troubles. 

Need of Varied Menus. — One of the greatest 
difficulties experienced in feeding during nursery and 
school age is in the provision of sufficiently varied 
menus. Constant repetition of any food causes indif- 
ference, no matter how much it may have been enjoyed 
at first. The illustrative menus given in the latter part 
of this book are suggestive only, and they may be inter- 
changed to suit the general house supply, vegetables 



2 8 CHILDREN' S DIE T 

being used according to season, and care being given to 
combinations, as, for instance, the use of but one starch 
food in a menu, etc. One food of each class is usually 
sufficient to constitute a satisfactory meal. 

Quantities to Allow. — It will be noticed that 
quantities are mentioned at times when certain foods 
are to be limited at each meal, leaving the others to be 
taken according to the appetite of each child. If a 
child is accustomed to regular, simple meals, its appetite 
may be trusted to regulate amounts. If, on the contrary, 
it has been fed " a little of everything," and has been 
allowed to eat candy, etc., between meals, this point 
must be carefully considered, and an effort must be 
made to bring back the child to simple tastes and reg- 
ular habits, by omitting the foods forbidden for children 
and by giving no food between meals. The amounts 
indicated should vary in accordance with the age, weight, 
and condition of the child. It is evident that an active 
child needs more than one who is passive. The safest 
rule to follow is to give, so far as possible, a single rep- 
resentative of each class of food at each meal ; to give 
little meat and sugar, and to complete the quantity re- 
quired for each meal with broths, starchy vegetables, 
and either green vegetables or else fruits. When con- 
structing a menu for a child, keep constantly in view 
the proportions required of the various classes of foods. 

All the dishes indicated in the following menus may 
be easily prepared by any one understanding the prin- 
ciples of cooking, if care be given to the dainty prepa- 



DR. THOMPSON' S RULES 29 

ration of the articles called for, and if scrupulous 
cleanliness (one of the most important factors in nursery 
cooking) be observed. 

If we want our children to be strong, we must use 
animal food as an important part of their diet, in the 
form of milk, eggs, and meat soup for younger children, 
and in that of eggs, fresh meats, etc. , for those who are 
older. In selecting menus, macaroni and spaghetti 
should be more relied upon for variety than is usual 
after a child is five years old. 

Dr. Thompson's General Rules for Feeding 
Young Children, given in "Practical Dietet- 
ics," are concise and comprehensive, as may be seen 
from the following : 

1. Allow time for meals. 

2. See that the food is thoroughly masticated. 

3. Do not allow nibbling between meals. 

4. Do not tempt the child with the sight of rich and 
indigestible foods. 

5. Do not force the child to eat against its will, but 
examine the mouth, which may be sore from erupting 
teeth, and examine the food, which may not be properly 
cooked or flavored. If good food is refused from 
peevishness merely, remove it, and do not offer it 
again before the next meal-time. 

6. In acute illness, reduce and dilute the food at 
once. 

7. In very hot weather, give about one -fourth or 
one-third less food^ and offer more water. 



3 o CHILDREN' S DIE T 

Dr. Rotch's Suggestions for Feeding a 
Twelve Months Old Child. (From " How to 
Feed Children.") — Between the twelfth and thirteenth 
months, Dr. Rotch is in the habit of giving the infant 
five meals during the day. At this time it is well to 
accustom it to take its food from a spoon, and as soon 
as possible to omit feeding from the bottle. The five 
meals should be arranged in the following manner : 

"For breakfast, bread and cow's milk, slightly 
warmed. 

" For lunch, equal parts of oat jelly and cow's milk, 
warmed, with a little salt added, according to the in- 
fant's taste. 

"This meal of oat jelly should be repeated in the 
middle of the afternoon. 

" In the middle of the day, broth of some kind, 
either chicken or mutton, carefully prepared so as to be 
free from fat on its surface, can be given with some 
bread. 

" The fifth meal should be given in the latter part 
of the afternoon, and should consist of bread and milk. 

" In some cases it is impossible to make infants 
swallow bread for a long period after the usual time 
of twelve to thirteen months. At times it is not until 
they are two and one-half to three years old that they 
can be induced to take bread. In these cases we must 
feed them according to our judgment of the individual 
case. 

"When the infant is fourteen to fifteen months old, 



CLASSIFICATION OF MENUS 



3* 



some thoroughly boiled rice can be added to the broth 
in the middle of the day, and if it digests this well it 
can also have bread given with this meal. 

"When the infant is sixteen months old, it can have 
a small amount of butter on its bread. When it is 
seventeen to eighteen months old, it can have a thor- 
oughly baked white potato, mixed with butter and salt, 
added to its mid-day meal of broth. When it is nine- 
teen to twenty months old, eggs can become part of its 
diet. 

* ' There are not many fruits which should be given to 
the infant in its second year. A baked apple can be 
given at the evening meal when the infant is fourteen to 
fifteen months old ; or, for variety, the apple can be 
made into a simple sauce, never, however, having the 
sauce made with much sugar. When peaches are in 
season, a ripe peach can often be given with benefit, 
especially if the infant is inclined to be constipated. 
Other fruits should be avoided, as they are not neces- 
sary for the infant's nutrition, and at times produce 
serious trouble. ' ' 

Classification of Menus. 

The following menus are constructed upon this base, 
suggested by Dr. Rotch, and explanatory notes are 
introduced where it seems advisable. The hours for 
the five meals from twelve months may be arranged, 
as most convenient for the average household, as fol- 
lows : 



3 2 



CHILDREN' S DIE T 



Twelve to Thirteen Months. 

7 a.m. Early breakfast — a breakfast- cupful or a six- 
ounce bottle of warm milk ; a piece of bread or a 
cracker. 

9.30 a.m. Breakfast proper — two tablespoonfuls of 
oat jelly with the same quantity of milk, seasoned with 
a little salt. 

12.30. Dinner — a cup of chicken broth with stale 
bread-crumbs ; one tablespoonful of gelatin, flavored 
with orange juice. 

3.30 p.m. Repeat meal given at 9.30. 

6.30 p.m. Supper — one-day-old bread broken in 
warm milk (six ounces). 

Supper at half-past six gives time for the child to 
have a few minutes' rest before going to sleep at seven. 
The child should be dressed for the night before receiv- 
ing this meal, that unnecessary handling upon a full 
stomach may be avoided. Half-past six is the time fre- 
quently advised for the first meal in the morning r but, 
by judicious training as to sleep, seven o'clock will be 
found early enough, and if the habit of sleep is once 
fixed a child will not wake before this time, thus giving 
many mothers without nurses the opportunity for sparing 
their strength a little in the early morning. 

First Morning Meal from the Bottle. — It is 
also of great assistance under some circumstances to give 
the first meal from the bottle for a longer period than 
twelve months, as at this early hour much carelessness 
may be expected from ordinary servants in the handling 



A CONVENIENT DAILY ROUTINE 33 

of baby's food, and unless there is a reliable nurse the 
mother must usually rise very much earlier than is neces- 
sary for other demands. The plan of having a bottle 
ready for warming at seven o'clock in the morning will 
obviate many sources of trouble that are usually met 
with, and, while not the ideal plan, it is practically much 
better than to allow servants an opportunity for careless 
handling of baby's first meal for the day, which may 
readily change the tenor of that entire day's atmosphere. 
A Convenient Daily Routine. — Breakfast at 
9.30 for baby gives the mother time to take her own 
comfortably, to bathe her child at nine, and feed it at 
half-past, after which it should sleep an hour or more, 
and then be taken out for a while before dinner at 
12.30. It maybe taken out for an hour again after 
dinner, from which time it will be likely to sleep until 
its next meal at half-past three. From this time it 
should be kept awake until it is ready to be put to 
sleep for the night at seven, after being undressed and 
fed at half-past six. Dr. Samuel Adams, of Washing- 
ton, says : " A young infant has nothing to do but eat 
and sleep. As soon as he is fed he will take a nap, 
and will probably sleep for an hour and a half. After 
the first year the naps become shorter and less frequent. 
During the second year a nap in the morning after 
breakfast, and one in the afternoon about one or two 
o'clock for an hour or an hour and a half, are usually 
sufficient, and these naps should be insisted upon for 
the rest of his mind and body and to enhance his growth 

3 



34 CHILDREN'S DIET 

and health. As the child attains the third year he can 
usually drop the morning nap. The afternoon one 
should be insisted upon very soon after the child has his 
noonday meal, in winter as well as in summer. ' ' Some 
physicians advise a night feeding at ten or eleven, to 
be given until eighteen months. If so, the food may 
be given from a bottle without disturbing the child's 
sleep by keeping to the same hour exactly and gently 
touching the lips of the child with the tip, lifting the 
pillow carefully at the same time. A child who is well 
is usually so sleepy that it will take the milk very readily 
without opening its eyes. At this time any necessary 
changes for the night may also be made, to avoid fur- 
ther chance of disturbance. Regularity in this method 
is certain to bring eventual success. If, during this 
early period of feeding, great care is given to the little 
points that appear to many to be trifling at the time, a 
fixed habit of sound sleep from seven to seven may be 
formed that will prove one of the greatest blessings 
conferred upon a child by a wise mother. 

Alternating Menu for the Same Period — i.e., 
Twelve to Thirteen Months. 

7 a.m. Six-ounce bottle of warm milk, with a piece 
of crust from French bread or a biscuit. 

9.30 a.m. One small cup of fresh sweet milk (heated 
to 167 F.). Two tablespoonfuls of well-cooked oat- 
meal gruel served with two tablespoonfuls of fresh cream, 
also heated. 



ALTERNATING MENU 35 

12.30 p.m. One-half pint of mutton broth with stale 
bread-crumbs. Two tablespoonfuls of junket, made 
with Fairchild's essence of pepsin. 

3.30 p.m. A breakfast -cupful or an eight-ounce 
bottle of milk and gelatin. Dissolve a teaspoonful of 
gelatin in a little of the cold milk, and add to the re- 
mainder when it is warm, taking care to keep the 
mixture well covered when dissolving. 

6.30 p.m. A breakfast -cupful of warm milk and a 

piece of bread or a biscuit, or, if the bottle is still 

used, a six-ounce bottle of warm milk, with bread or 

biscuit. 

Fourteen to Fifteen Months. 

7 a.m. One slice of bread and eight ounces of milk, 
given in cup or bottle. 

9.30 a.m. One cup of barley jelly and milk, half 
and half, salted. 

12.30 p.m. One slice of bread, one-half pint of 
chicken broth, with a tablespoonful of well -boiled rice 
added. 

3.30 p.m. Repeat meal given at 9.30. 

6.30 p.m. Eight ounces of warm milk and a Graham 
biscuit. 

Alternating Menu for the Same Period, — i.e., 
Fourteen to Fifteen Months. 

7 a.m. Bread and milk (eight ounces). 
9.30 a.m. One tablespoonful of gluten porridge 
served with top milk. 



36 CHILDREN'S DIET 

12.30 p.m. One cup of chicken jelly made with 
milk. A piece of crust of bread. 

3.30 p.m. One cup of oat jelly and top milk, half 
and half, as directed before. 

6.30 p.m. Six ounces of milk, the soft part of a 
baked apple, a biscuit, or a piece of zwieback. 

At sixteen months add a little good butter to the 
bread given. (Rotch.) 

After the fifteenth month two to six teaspoonfuls of 

orange juice may be given, or a baked or stewed 

apple. 

Seventeen to Eighteen Months. 

7 a.m. One piece of bread and butter and a cup of 
milk. 

9.30 a.m. One cup of oat jelly and top milk, half 
and half. 

12.30 p.m. One cup of chicken broth, bread and 
butter, and a baked potato mixed with a little butter 
and salt. A tablespoonful of juice from a sweet 
orange. 

3.30 p.m. One piece of zwieback and a cup of sweet 
milk. 

6.30 p.m. Eight ounces of milk and bread and 
butter. 

Alternating Menu from Seventeen to Eighteen 

Months. 

7A.M. Graham bread and butter and a cup of warm 
milk. 



ALTERNATING MENU 



37 



9. 30 a. m. One tablespoonful of well-cooked wheatena 
served with a few tablespoonfuls of sweet cream, taken 
from morning's milk and heated to 167° F. One piece 
of bread-crust or zwieback. 

12.30 p.m. One-half pint of mutton broth, two 
tablespoonfuls of boiled rice. Bread and butter. 

3.30 p.m. One cup of milk jelly and a biscuit. 

6.30 p.m. Two Graham biscuit, or bread, if pre- 
ferred, broken into eight ounces of warm milk. 

Nineteen to Twenty Months. 

7 a.m. A cup of milk and bread and butter. 

9.30 a.m. Two tablespoonfuls of wheat porridge 
with cream, a small glass of milk, bread and butter, 
one tablespoonful of clarified apple (page 153). 

12.30 p.m. A milky, soft-boiled egg (page 128) with 
stale bread-crumbs, bread and butter, one tablespoonful 
of boiled rice, one or two tablespoonfuls of fruit gelatin 
(page 162). 

3.30 p.m. A saucer of junket, bread and butter. 

6.30 ?.m. Two pieces of toasted bread broken into 
four ounces of hot salted milk ; a glass of milk to 
drink. 

Alternating Menu from Nineteen to Twenty 

Months. 

7 a.m. Bread, butter, and milk. 
9.30 a.m. Two tablespoonfuls of breakfast hominy 
with salt and cream, a glass of milk, bread and butter. 



3 8 CHILDREN'S DIET 

A pared ripe peach, if in season, or a tablespoonful of 
scraped ripe apple. 

12.30 p.m. One cup of beef broth, with crumbs of 
zwieback broken in it, a baked potato, two tablespoon- 
fuls of tapioca (page 54). 

3. 30 p. m. A saucer of oatmeal jelly (page 117) with 
a little salt and cream. 

6.30 p.m. Bread and milk. 

From Twenty to Thirty Months. 

From twenty to thirty months use the foods indicated 
so far, varying the menus by interchanging with any 
similar articles, the recipes for which are given else- 
where. 

This is a sufficient diet for this period, and it is 
worse than folly for mothers to attempt at this early 
age, as is frequently done, to accustom their children to 
the use of everything and anything from the general 
table. There are many persons, again, who will follow 
a cautious course in nursery feeding to a certain point, 
and -then undo all by a fitful lapse into carelessness. 
The remarks made in this connection should be em- 
phasized if the infant's digestion and general nutrition 
are to be considered, and the parents should insist that 
no other articles of food be employed except such as are 
similar to those spoken of, according to the taste, judg- 
ment, and knowledge of cooking which exists in the 
special household. 



FOOD AFTER THIRTY MONTHS 39 

Food After Thirty Months. 

"At this time it will be well to begin to accustom 
the child's digestive functions to a still greater variety 
of food. In summer, the more easily digestible vege- 
tables, such as squash, young peas, and young beans, 
can be given. The variety of fruits can also be increased 
at this period, but they should be cooked. The prin- 
cipal change which is to be made in the diet to which 
the infant has been accustomed is a very decided increase 
in the proportion of the proteid element of its food. 
This is accomplished by means of giving the child meat. 
The quantity of meat which should be given towards 
the end of the third year should be small at first, and 
should be given at intervals of a day or two. Meat as 
a regular article of diet for each day is not, as a rule, 
required until the child is between three and four years 
old. The kinds of meat which should be given in this 
early period of childhood are chicken, mutton-chop, 
roast beef, and beefsteak. These meats should be cut 
into small pieces, and a little salt added, according to 
the child's taste. It is well, during the latter part of 
the third year and the first part of the fourth year, to 
give the child an egg on one day and meat on the 
next. 

"When the child has reached the age of five or six 
years, we should allow it to have a somewhat more 
varied diet, but during the whole period of childhood 
the closest attention should be given to the regulation 
of the kind and the amount of food to be given, and 



4 o CHILDREN' S DIE T 

any deviations from the rules just laid down are to be 
deprecated. 

"It should be particularly noted that meat is not 
given until after thirty months, — and eggs are withheld 
until the child is nineteen or twenty months old." — 
From "How to Feed Children." 

Dinner Menus Allowable After Thirty Months. 

Beef broth with vermicelli ; bran or whole-meal 
bread, and the best butter obtainable ; lightly broiled 
lamb-chop, scraped and seasoned with salt ; spinach 
boiled tender and mashed through a puree sieve, served 
plain with cream or in broth ; baked potato with salt ; 
orange tapioca for dessert, and a fruit juice made as 
directed, and used as a drink. 

i. Chicken broth with rice ; minced broiled tender- 
loin steak with salt (no butter) ; boiled rice ; brown 
bread with butter ; asparagus tips or stewed celery, 
with hot cream as sauce ; cup custard for dessert. 

2. Mutton broth; the white meat of chicken cut 
into very small pieces ; baked potato ; spinach ; bread 
and butter ; orange float for dessert. 

3. Beef tea; stewed squab; boiled or steamed rice; 
bread and butter ; Bermuda onions, stewed very soft in 
milk ; junket with egg for dessert. 

4. Milk soup ; roast beef rare and minced ; boiled 
rice with dish gravy from roast beef; spinach or stewed 
celery ; bread and butter ; cup custard for dessert. 

5. Strained vegetable soup ; scraped broiled mutton- 



MENUS FOR A CHILD OF FIVE YEARS 4I 

chop, rejecting all fat ; baked potato ; apple sauce ; 
bread and butter; junket, made with Fairchild's es- 
sence of pepsin, for dessert. 

6. Beef broth ; boiled or broiled fish ; boiled spa- 
ghetti with milk ■ boiled asparagus tips \ gelatin with 
whipped cream for dessert. 

A Week's Menus for a Child of Five Years. 

With but few exceptions (tomatoes, bacon, and 
figs), the following articles mentioned may be used 
for children from two and a half years up, but the 
amounts given will be found to be more than is re- 
quired for that age, as they are sufficient for a hungry 
child of five. 

Sunday. 

Breakfast. — One ripe apple, pared, quartered, and 
carefully cored. Two or three tablespoonfuls of well- 
cooked and well selected oatmeal, with half a cup of 
sweet cream and a pinch of salt. A glass of warm 
milk. Bread and good butter. A soft-boiled egg. 

Dinner. — From twelve to one o'clock. Half a cup 
of beef broth. Bread and butter. One lamb-chop, 
lightly broiled, and cut in small pieces, or a piece of 
roast beef or mutton, with dish gravy. One quickly 
baked potato, broken with a fork, eaten with salt. 
Two tablespoonfuls of boiled spinach, mashed through 
a puree sieve. Stewed apples and a lady-finger for des- 
sert. 

Supper. — Five to five-thirty o'clock. Milk toast; 



42 CHILDREN'S DIET 

one-half pint of hot milk seasoned with salt and butter 
for three or four pieces of toast. A few stewed figs. 
Bread and butter if wanted. 

Monday. 

Breakfast. — Breakfast hominy and cream. Bread 
and butter. A sweet orange. A bit of broiled fish. 

Dinner. — One-half cup of mutton broth. Broiled, 
finely chopped steak, one large spoonful, or one lamb- 
chop, lightly broiled. Boiled rice, as much as wanted. 
Stewed celery with cream sauce. Gelatin, flavored with 
chocolate or vanilla, for dessert. 

Supper. — Milk biscuit, broken in hot milk. Bread 
and butter. Stewed fruit. 

Tuesday. 

Breakfast. — Two tablespoonfuls of cracked « wheat 
and cream. One poached egg y lightly done. Brown 
bread and butter. A few dates or an apple. 

Dinner. — Half a cup of beef broth, made from the 
chopped steak and celery bits of the day before. A 
slice of roast beef with dish gravy. Macaroni, boiled 
in salted water, cream to be added for sauce. If meat 
is not available, more macaroni may be used, as it sup- 
plies the place of meat and cereals. Two tablespoon- 
fuls of stewed tomatoes, stewed long enough to be put 
through an agate or porcelain colander. Orange float 
for dessert (soft cup custard poured over oranges that 
have been carefully freed from pith). 



MENUS FOR A CHILD OF FIVE YEARS 



43 



Supper. — Bread, butter, milk to drink, and stewed 
apples, flavored with cinnamon or orange. 

Wednesday. 

Breakfast. — Oatmeal and cream. Dry toast, with 
cold, not melted, butter. A little stewed potato. A 
glass of milk. A bit of broiled fish. A sweet orange. 

Dinner. — Half a cup of chicken soup. One broiled 
lamb-chop. Bread and butter. Stewed onions with 
cream sauce. One baked sweet potato. (Onions have 
no sugar, hence sweet potato.) Plain or apple tapioca 
pudding. As sweet potato has not so much starch as 
white, tapioca (starch) may be used for dessert. 

Supper. — Sweet buns or plain rolls, broken up in 
hot milk, with a light sprinkling of sugar or salt ac- 
cording to which food is used. A dish of stewed 
prunes, or a glass of prune juice. A slice of Graham 
bread and butter. 

Thursday. 

Breakfast. — Two tablespoonfuls of hominy with 
cream (half a cup). One scrambled egg, with bread 
and butter. One apple. Cup of weak cocoa, three- 
quarters milk. 

Dinner. — One cup of beef broth. Bread and butter. 
Spaghetti and milk. Broiled sweetbreads. Stewed 
celery. Small saucer of rice pudding. 

Supper. — Bread, butter, and good molasses or syrup, 
carefully selected, with as much milk as is wanted. 



44 CHILDREN' S DIE T 

Friday. 

Breakfast. — A saucer of boiled rice, with cream and 
salt. Bread and butter. A bit of crisp, fat breakfast 
bacon. Bacon supplies lack of fat in rice. Stewed 
potatoes. An orange that is sweet. 

Dinner. — One cup of beef broth seasoned with celery 
broth of the day before. Well broiled, boiled, or 
baked fish having white meat. Baked white potato. 
One tablespoonful of stewed cauliflower with cream as 
sauce. Cup custard made with one egg and flavored 
with cinnamon. 

Supper. — Zwieback, stewed figs, bread, butter, and 
as much milk as is wanted. 

Saturday. 

Breakfast. — Cracked wheat and cream. Cup of 
cocoa. Soft-boiled egg y lightly boiled. Bread and 
butter and a few figs or dates, or, for a younger child, 
an orange that is sweet. 

Dinner. — Half a cup of mutton broth with rice 
added (one tablespoonful). A tablespoonful of the 
white meat of chicken or a tender wing. Small saucer 
of apple sauce. Macaroni. Bread and butter. A 
coffee cup of junket and one or two lady-fingers, or a 
sweet bun one day old, for dessert. 

Supper. — Bread, butter, and honey, milk, and a 
small piece of one-day-old Moravian cake, made ac- 
cording to recipe given on page 123, or a piece of home- 
made sponge cake, gingerbread, or similar simple cake. 



SUMMER DINNER MENUS 



45 



Suggestions for Breakfast in Summer for Chil- 
dren from Three to Five. 

One only of the following articles, with cream and 
salt : Cracked wheat, rice, tapioca, breakfast hominy, 
gluten (containing little or no fat). 

One only of the following articles : Eggs boiled 
(covered with boiling water as directed elsewhere; 
poached in salted water that does not boil ; scrambled 
(lightly) ; omelet (eggs not to be separated for beat- 
ing). For a small omelet use one tablespoonful of hot 
water to one egg instead of milk, as customary, beat 
about a dozen times with a fork, and cook quickly ; the 
result will be a deliciously tender omelet. Broiled fish. 
Broiled bacon. Asparagus tops may be given fre- 
quently with any of the above articles. 

One only of the following articles : Stewed rhubarb 
(laxative), orange t)r lemon jelly (made with gelatin), 
strawberries (carefully given, noting effect), baked 
apple, gelatin pudding or calf 's-foot jelly, etc. 

Summer Dinner Menus from Three to Five 

Years. 

i. Beef broth. Broiled fish. Baked potato. Spin- 
ach puree. A ripe, sweet orange for dessert. Bread 
and butter. 

2. Vegetable omelet made with chopped asparagus 

tips that have been previously boiled tender ; or, if 

preferred, a plain omelet and the asparagus served 

alone, with or without cream sauce. A small cup of 



46 CHILDREN' S DIE T 

a good digestible cocoa with educator biscuit for des- 
sert. 

3. Chop (lamb) broiled. Boiled rice, served with 
cream and salt. Bread, butter, and honey. Glass of 
milk if desired. In place of honey, fruit juice may be 
used. 

4. Mutton broth with barley. Boiled egg. As- 
paragus tips with salt, or stewed onion with cream 
sauce. A cup of junket or a cup custard. Bread and 
butter. 

5. Broiled beef pulp. Spaghetti with cream sauce, 
the sauce to be made with good butter, cream or milk, 
and flour. Four or five large prunes, stewed or simply 
freshened by soaking overnight in cold water, after 
washing well, may be given for dessert. Children who 
will not eat stewed prunes, or who have grown tired of 
them, will sometimes welcome the above change. 

6. Puree of onion with beef broth, served either 
together or alone. Farina, cooked with salt and 
served with cream. Strawberry gelatin for dessert, 
using the clear juice only for flavoring. Bread and 
butter. 

7. Poached egg served on well-made toast. Cauli- 
flower tops, if tender, or a dish of apple sauce. A 
saucer of rice pudding flavored with cinnamon. The 
use of cauliflower and onion should be deferred to the 
latter part of this period of feeding, and results should 
be watched very carefully. 



BREAKFAST MENUS 47 

Breakfast Combinations for Winter. Designed 
to Supply Heat. 

Amounts to vary according to the age of the child ; 
breakfast meats may be omitted for childre?i under 
five, as meat at dinner is sufficient at this age. 

White grapes ; oatmeal and cream ; boiled eggs ; 
bread and butter ; warm milk to drink. 

Stewed apples ; cracked wheat and cream ; crust 
muffins ; broiled fat bacon ; stewed potatoes ; mixed 
milk and cream to drink. 

A ripe apple ; cornmeal mush and cream ; stewed or 
broiled chicken ; baked potatoes ; glass of milk ; but- 
tered toast. 

Tokay grapes ; cream or top milk to drink ; broiled 
mutton-chop ; hominy with salt ; bread and butter, 

Farina and cream ; broiled steak or creamed fish ; 
cornmeal muffins, good butter ; a sweet orange or ripe 
apple. 

Clarified apples ; wheatena ; cream ; whole -meal 
bread and butter ; broiled squab ; boiled rice. 

Breakfast Menus for a Child who has Reached 
the Age of Five or Six. Designed Particu- 
larly to Supply Food for Second Dentition. 

1. Whole-meal wheat bread and butter; oatmeal 
porridge (the whole grain) and cream \ stewed potatoes; 
broiled fish ; fruit. 

2. Graham muffins and butter ; milk ; cornmeal mush 



4 8 CHILDREN' S DIE T 

(the whole grain) and cream ; stewed chicken ; an 
orange. 

3. Corn bread; porridge made from whole wheat 
ground in a coffee-mill and cooked four hours (the 
calcareous deposit needed is found in the outside of 
the grains), served with cream ; a poached egg 3 warm 
milk to drink ; a raw apple. 

4. Hominy ; cream ; whole-meal muffins, made ac- 
cording to recipe for cream muffins ; baked potato ; 
broiled fat bacon ; milk ; stewed fruit or white or Tokay 
grapes (no seeds or skins). 

Dinner menus for this period should be supplied 
with the proteids of foods in proper proportions (meat, 
game, fish, oysters, eggs, milk foods, broths, etc. ) and 
with salt-giving foods (fresh vegetables and fruits), and 
supper should always include whole-meal bread, stewed 
fruits, and an abundance of milk. 

Sample Dinner Menu for Second Dentition. 
— The following will serve as a sample dinner menu 
for the second dentition period : a cup of beef broth 
thickened slightly with oatmeal, or mutton broth with 
barley ; broiled fish, or lamb-chops, with green peas ; 
boiled rice ; ■ creamed macaroni or baked potato ; 
whole-meal bread well toasted and buttered when cool, 
so that the butter will not melt ; orange tapioca for 
dessert. 

Notice that there are proteids, to form bone for the 
teeth, in nearly every food prescribed, and that never- 
theless the salts and the starches are not omitted. The 



FOODS FORBIDDEN 



49 



oatmeal in the soup contains proteids and salts ; the 
fish, phosphates ; the whole-meal bread, proteids and 
carbohydrates ; the butter, fat ; the orange, salts ; the 
tapioca, starch ; and the peas contain proteids and salts. 
It must not be forgotten that the condition of a 
child's second set of teeth depends very largely on the 
kind of food taken during the years immediately pre- 
ceding second dentition. 



Foods Forbidden. 

The following foods are forbidden under all cir- 
cumstances in the nursery until after second dentition, 
except where indicated : 



Ham. 

Sausage. 

Pork. 

Salt fish. 

Dried beef. 

Corned beef. 

Goose. 

Duck. 

Broiled kidneys. 

Stewed kidneys. 

Liver and bacon. 

Stewed Liver. 

Gravy from roast or fried meats, 
except dish gravy. If care- 
fully made from roasts, with- 
out grease, according to recipe 



Baked tomatoes. 

Stewed tomatoes, except as 
directed elsewhere. 

Fried tomatoes. 

Raw tomatoes, except as di- 
rected elsewhere. 

Fried potatoes. 

Pickled beets. 

Carrots. 

Pastries. 

Griddle cakes. 

Fresh bread. 

Meat pies. 

Fruit pies. 

Rich cakes. 

Hot biscuit. 



5° 



CHILDREN'S DIET 



given in chapter of recipes, it Muffins, unless made as directed 

may be used after five years. elsewhere, when they are per- 

Meat stews as usually made, missible for a child of five. 

but they may be given if Doughnuts. 

made as directed elsewhere. Preserves. 

Raw celery. Canned fruits. 

Raw or fried onions. Tea. 

Radishes. Coffee. 

Cucumbers. Liquors of all kinds, unless 

indicated by a physician. 

Explanatory Lists of the Various Classes 
of Nursery Foods, 

Proteids. — These foods, when eaten and digested, 
are tissue-builders, and repair waste. More proteid 
foods are needed in disease than in health, as they are 
more easily digested than vegetable foods. 



Milk. 


Partridges. 


Mutton. 


Eggs. 


Gelatin . 


Chicken 


Raw oysters. 


Beef. 


Squabs. 


Lamb. 


Turkey. 


Fish. 


Veal. 


Pheasant. 





Milk is a complete food in early childhood when 
growth is active, consisting of — 

Proteids Caseine or cheese. 

Carbohydrates Sugar. 

Salts Phosphates. 

Fat Cream. 



CARBOHYDRA TES 



5* 



Eggs also form a complete food, if the shell, which 
supplies the chick with salts, is taken into consideration : 
hence, for children, supplement eggs with salt-giving 
foods. 

Carbohydrates (Starches and Sugars). 

( Make heat and stimulate energy. ) 

Beans. Peas. Cornmeal. 

Oatmeal. Graham bread. Wheat bread. 

Graham flour. Wheat flour. Barley. 

Oats. Rye. Graham biscuits. 

Boston crackers. Milk or oyster crackers. Macaroni. 

Note. — The above carbohydrates contain a large 
percentage of proteids ; those that follow do not. 



White potatoes. 


Rice. 


Sweet potatoes, 


Arrowroot. 


Sago. 


Tapioca. 


Cakes. 


Crackers. 


Sugars. 


Sweets. 


Dates. 


Molasses. 


Muffins. 


Bananas. 


Figs. 



Note — Professor Atwater says, "The vegetable 
foods are rich in carbohydrates, like starch and sugar, 
while the meats have not enough to be worth men- 
tioning. On the other hand, the meats abound in 
protein and fats, of which the vegetables have little. 
Beans and oatmeal, however, are rich in protein, while 
fat pork has very little. Carbohydrates are found in 
the grape-sugar of fruits, the sugar and starch in 
vegetables and the seed-giving flours. ' ' 



52 



CHILDREN'S DIET 



Salt-Giving Foods. 



Green corn. 




Spinach. Celery. 


Green peas. 




Green string-beans. Tomatoes. 


Fresh Lima beans. 


Onions. Brussels sprouts 


Stewed fruits. 




Peaches. Apples. 


Strawberries. 




Pears. Cranberries. 




Hydrocarbons or Fats. 


Cream. 




Bacon fat. Olive oil. 


Butter. 




Cod-liver oil. Cocoa. 


Chocolate. 







Summer Diet. — At this season of the year, if at 
no other, should excellence in the preparation of simple 
foods be the rule. A steak or a chop perfectly broiled, 
well-baked bread, pure milk, heated or modified as re- 
quired, carefully selected fruit, vegetables that are well 
chosen and properly prepared, and the avoidance of 
sweets and pastry, will prove potent factors in carrying 
a flock of little ones safely through the hot months of 
July and August. 

Another point to remember at this season is that a 
child is overfed if it cannot digest its food. The ap- 
proach of warm weather always brings to the thoughtful 
mother the consciousness of increased care, as this is 
the season requiring the exercise of much forethought 
in regard to the diet of the little ones. This is par- 
ticularly true in regard to food for older children in 
the summer-time, a trying period for the one who pro- 
vides — not so much in finding variety as in being able 



SUMMER BREAKFASTS 



S3 



to make the proper selections from the tempting supply 
of fresh fruits and vegetables offered, and in discarding 
the foods that are unsuitable for the hot months. Oat- 
meal, the reliance of many for breakfast in winter, must 
now be frequently discarded, as it often proves too 
heating. It may occasionally be used, however, in the 
form of oat jelly, for children who are very fond of 
oatmeal, as some will not eat hominy or wheat. The 
latter is a perfect summer cereal if well cooked, and 
efforts should be made to teach children to eat it by 
preparing it in an appetizing manner, serving it daintily, 
etc. 

Summer Breakfasts, — As eggs may be used but 
two or three times a week, the breakfast menu in sum- 
mer, taken altogether, is the first stumbling-block, and 
one likely to give trouble if not considered carefully. 
Almost all children, especially those of a nervous tem- 
perament or an anaemic type, are better for having had a 
hearty breakfast, and one of sufficient variety to tempt 
the appetite. If mothers will step out of the beaten track 
and provide dainty dishes that are not looked for at this 
hour, they will be surprised to see how quickly their 
efforts will be appreciated. In season, for children over 
five, a few sound, perfectly ripe strawberries (only four 
or five), with the hulls on, — the berries should be sweet 
enough to eat without sugar, — or half a dozen large 
cherries (oxhearts), perfectly ripe, laid upon the fruit- 
plate for the beginning of the meal, followed by dainty 
slices of well-baked, whole-meal bread and butter, and 



54 CHILDREN'S DIET 

half a dozen asparagus tips that have been boiled ten- 
der in salted water, with a glass of cold or warm beef 
tea, as preferred, and a spoonful of well-boiled and 
well -seasoned rice, will make a most satisfying and ap- 
petizing variation from the usual menu of eggs, oatmeal, 
potatoes, etc., and it will be one that a child will be 
sure to enjoy. 

Dainty Service. — Dainty serving is one of the most 
important adjuncts in nursery feeding. If the fancy of a 
child is pleased, he will, in all probability, eat most heart- 
ily. On a very hot morning I frequently find that I 
can invite sufficient appetite on the part of a child not 
inclined to eat by building engines or toy houses, etc. , 
of small pieces of bread, well buttered with cold butter. 
A little lump of butter should be placed on each piece 
of bread, not spread on in the usual nursery style, 
which, to say the least, is not inviting ; a, very few crisp 
bits of fat broiled bacon may here and there take the 
place of butter. This may all be put upon a decorated 
plate to suggest a story to the child. I have often seen 
a delicate child, one of the kind who would rather play 
than eat, take unconsciously a satisfactory meal while 
he was being entertained with an interesting story about 
a dear little cherub on his plate who was pictured as 
eating an apple. I have seen this same child drink 
glass after glass of milk when it was served in a wine- 
glass with a stem, whereas he would invariably refuse 
milk if it was given in a cup or a tumbler, saying he 
was not hungry. There is a fitness of things that must 



A COOL-LOOKING DINING-ROOM 



55 



be considered when feeding children, and at no time is 
it more necessary than in summer, when the intense 
heat tries the temper even of adults, who are certainly 
more resistant than children to the various climatic 
changes to which we are usually subjected. 

A Cool-Looking Dining Room. — A cool-look- 
ing dining room, shaded to rest the eyes, with inviting 
napery and pretty table appointments, flowers, etc., 
is inseparable from comfortable summer life. What 
could be more inviting to the eye, as well as to the 
appetite, of a fretful child who has probably been 
awakened too early by the heat, or who has passed a 
restless night for the same reason, than the sight of a 
prettily laid breakfast table, — flowers, fruits, and some 
little surprise at his plate to charm away his languor ? 
A dish of cold snow pudding, which contains ingredients 
that are all beneficial for a child (gelatin, eggs, fruit 
juice, etc.), will work like a charm. A glass of milk 
and a few dainty fingers of bread and butter will com- 
plete a satisfactory breakfast for hot weather. It is 
well to remember in midsummer-time that a light early 
breakfast is preferable to a heavy later one, if it is sup- 
plemented by a glass of milk or of beef tea, with a few 
crackers or a piece of zwieback, to be given midway 
between breakfast and dinner. Beef broth or cocoa 
should be given instead of milk to drink, when cher- 
ries or strawberries are taken at breakfast. When 
cherries are given, they must be in perfect condition, 
and results must be carefully noted. Unless stewed, 



5 6 CHILDREN' S DIE T 

they are frequently not a safe fruit until after second 
dentition. 

Tapioca is of great value in summer diet. It may be 
used in a variety of ways for any meal in the day, either 
for dinner dessert or for the main portion of the break- 
fast or supper meal. 

During very hot weather meat should be sparingly 
used ; broths, eggs, milk, and macaroni should take its 
place. Baked potatoes and rice are preferable for 
starchy foods at this season. Rice possesses no fat, and 
potatoes are nearly all water. 

Simple Dinners. — Avoid at all times, but espe- 
cially in summer, the use of sweets that are cloying, over- 
or under-ripe fruit, stale vegetables, and too much meat. 
Carbohydrates (sugars and starches) should be given in 
the proportion of four to one of proteids (meat, eggs, 
etc.). When corn is young and tender, a corn omelet, 
with bread and butter and a glass of milk, make a satis- 
factory dinner for a hot day. Score the grains of 
corn through the middle, and press out enough pulp 
to flavor an omelet. Use the recipe given elsewhere 
for a tender omelet, putting in the vegetable pulp just 
before folding, as it requires but a few minutes for cook- 
ing. Do not allow the omelet to get dry. It should be 
moist and soft when served. This is delicious when 
properly cooked and well seasoned. Puree of stewed 
onions, or a teaspoonful of raw onion juice, or grated 
onion, or any other vegetable allowed in the nursery, 
may be used instead of the corn pulp for making these 



SUMMER SUPPERS 



57 



omelets. This plan of only one or two dishes for din- 
ner should not be followed continuously. It is sug- 
gested for the occasional relief of the busy mother who 
at this season of the year finds herself overtaxed, and 
she must receive her due share of consideration in all 
these matters, as a child's well-being, not only physi- 
cally but mentally, depends upon the mother's condition. 
An occasional use of this plan prevents satiety also upon 
the part of the child. 

Macaroni or spaghetti, boiled tender first and then 
simmered in beef broth, cream, or milk, is a perfect 
one-course dinner for a child over five, and one that is 
usually appreciated. A glass of milk and bread and 
butter should be given with it. 

Use of Summer Desserts as Supplementary 
Foods. — Desserts in summer may frequently be supple- 
mentary foods. By this I mean that eggs, rice, tapioca, 
milk, etc. , may be freely used in desserts, and this por- 
tion of the meal may contain a large share of the nour- 
ishment required for the entire meal. In this form these 
ingredients are easily digested, and the other part of a 
menu containing one of these desserts need not be so 
heavy as in cold weather, thus somewhat relieving di- 
gestion at a time when relief is required. 

Summer Suppers. — What to give to the children 
for supper, especially in summer, may seem a trifling 
matter, yet it is really of the utmost importance. A 
child's rest at night depends very largely upon what it 
has had to eat at this meal. Two safe rules to follow 



5 8 CHILDREN' S DIE T 

are, never to give a heavy supper, and never, if possible, 
to give it later than five or half-past five o'clock, until a 
child is six years old, thus leaving an hour and a half to 
intervene before it is time for the nightly sponge, which 
is so refreshing before bedtime in hot" weather, and which, 
with a well -selected supper, induces sleep in defiance of 
the heat, however oppressive. I find it is not unusual 
for mothers to give the evening meal to their little ones 
as late as half-past six or seven o'clock, in some instances 
as late as half-past seven, for their own convenience, and 
yet they will visit physicians regularly and ask advice 
as to what should be done to make their children sleep 
soundly, complaining that they are restless, wakeful, 
easily disturbed, etc. A child who has had a simple and 
early supper will be found, if well, to protest against 
being disturbed, and will want to sleep. It is possible 
and very desirable to give even a baby its ten or eleven 
o'clock bottle, which should be its last feeding for the 
night, without thoroughly awaking it, thus encouraging 
the habit of continuous sleep from seven to seven, which, 
once established, is the greatest boon that a tired mother 
can ask, and is of equal benefit to the child. 

Sleeplessness or disturbed sleep in a child either 
points to a faulty regimen or is the forerunner of dis- 
ease, and it invariably needs attention and correction. 
It is one of the safest indications for the mother who is 
concerned as to the condition of her child. 

The old-fashioned bowl of bread and milk cannot be 
improved upon for a child's supper, if the milk be 



HOW TO USE FRUIT 



59 



sweet and the bread well baked and made of good flour. 
Graham biscuit in place of the bread, with clarified 
apples made according to the recipe given, is another 
simple yet desirable summer menu. An occasional dish 
of rice and milk or a baked potato is frequently sug- 
gested, and may be admissible, but it is much wiser in 
hot weather to reserve rice for breakfast — to be used in- 
stead of the more heating cereals — and baked potatoes 
for dinner. With well -cooked rice or wheat for break- 
fast, potato, macaroni, or spaghetti for dinner, and the 
occasional use of farina or tapioca, the matter of starchy 
foods in summer should be pretty well covered, leaving 
supper menus to be supplied with dishes that are more 
simple and more certain of not disturbing a night's rest. 
How to Use Fruit. — The use of stewed fruit is 
to be advocated for all times and all seasons of the year, 
after two and one -half years ; and, if fruit at all be given 
at the evening meal, it should be cooked. Fresh fruit 
should never be given to children after dinner. I have 
frequently heard this question discussed, and many 
mothers are in favor of giving it later in the day ; but 
I cannot alter my opinion that fresh fruit should not be 
given to young children later than at the one o'clock 
dinner. There is no necessity, at any rate, for doing so, 
as any child, if treated wisely, will care far more for his 
bread and milk or Graham biscuit and milk than for all 
the fruit you may offer him. I frequently find that even 
the dish of stewed fruit is not appreciated as much for 
supper-time as for breakfast, at which time it is often 



60 CHILDREN' S DIET 

eaten with great relish, and is usually the first dish to be 
called for. Sinee the discovery of this fact, I have 
often changed my nursery menus in this direction, omit- 
ting the use of any kind of fruit at supper-time unless 
it is asked for, and giving stewed fruit for breakfast, 
reserving fresh fruit for dinner menus in summer, when 
little meat or fat is taken. In this way I find it easier to 
fit it in with the different milk dishes, which sometimes 
cause trouble when used with fresh fruit, and thus there 
is less likelihood of consequent disagreement. At the 
risk of being tedious, it seems advisable to lay stress 
upon points like these, even if they do appear to be 
self-evident. Milk should, for instance, form a large 
portion of the breakfast menu, and with the use of milk 
it is usually very much better for children under five to 
have stewed fruit instead of the average so-called ripe 
fruit that is sold so often in our markets. For this reason 
chiefly I prefer using at breakfast-time fruits that have 
been stewed, as less likely to cause trouble, and fresh 
fruit that is really ripe for dinner, when milk is usually 
omitted from the menu. This rule is not an inflexible 
one, however, and any mother who is sure of the con- 
dition of the fruit she buys — that it is perfectly fresh, 
sound, and ripe, not over- or under-ripe — may follow 
the usually suggested plan of fresh fruits for breakfast 
and stewed fruits for supper, with puddings, etc., for 
desserts for dinner. I have, however, found the other 
plan perfectly practicable, and a great relief in hot 
weather. 






SUPPER DISHES FOR SUMMER AND WINTER 6 1 

Drinking Enough Water. — A copious drink of 
water about an hour after supper is an important feature 
in regulating a child's condition, and it should never be 
neglected, especially in summer. A child four or five 
years old should drink at least half a pint of water be- 
tween five o'clock supper and seven o'clock bedtime. 
The habit of drinking water both morning and evening 
can be cultivated with a little care, and it is a habit of 
great importance throughout life in its result upon slug- 
gish conditions. That this fact is not fully appreciated 
is evidenced by the constant cry in the nursery for laxa- 
tive medicines, which are used and advised far too fre- 
quently. 

Simple Supper Dishes for Summer and Winter 

Alike. 

(After two and a half years.) 

Milk toast, zwieback, bread and milk, bread and 
butter (home-made bread, one day old), sugar rusk, 
Graham biscuit, Graham biscuit sandwiches with good 
butter (nothing else) between, stewed apples, etc., if 
desired, with as much sweet milk as the child will drink 
or use with the above. 

Diet for the Approach of Cool Weather. — 
The approach of cooler weather is the herald for the 
modifications in diet that are necessary for keeping 
a child resistant to sudden variations of temperature, 
for supplying sufficient warmth, and for providing 
energy to meet the activity induced by the pleasant 



62 CHILDREN'S DIET 

change from the enervating months of summer. Any 
observant mother will see at once how quickly her 
children have been influenced by this change, how 
much more active they have become, and how appetite 
has improved ; hence the necessity for a fuller diet. 
Oatmeal may now be used for breakfast, served with 
cream \ this combination, containing fat and starch, 
supplies heat. A moderate amount of sugar is per- 
missible, and some physicians say advisable, in cool 
weather if the digestion is good, but it must not be given 
to children who are in the habit of eating quantities of 
candy between meals, as in all probability they receive 
far more sugar than they can digest, and it would be 
ruinous to give them more. 

No Cake or Candy. — Dr. Rotch says, "The 
infant should never be given cake or candy, even to 
taste. I think that it is necessary to state this very de- 
cidedly, because it is an erroneous view which is held 
by most mothers that it can do no harm to give occa- 
sionally to an infant in its second year of life, or to a 
young child, a little candy or a little cake. This may 
be true so far as the immediate effect these articles may 
have on the digestion is concerned, but it is of far more 
importance that the infant should not have its taste 
perverted from those articles of diet which are best for 
its nutrition. These new articles appeal more strongly 
to its sense of taste, and allow it to know that there is 
something which tastes more agreeable than the food 
which it is accustomed to have. When an infant has 



USE OF SUGAR ON CEREALS 63 

acquired a taste for cake or candy, it will cease to 
enjoy the food by which its development will be best 
perfected. It is, in fact, kinder to the infant never to 
allow it to taste cake or candy. When these articles 
are withheld, it will continue to have a healthy appe- 
tite and taste for necessary and proper articles of 
food." 

Use of Sugar on Cereals. — A very satisfactory 
way of giving sugar on oatmeal to a child who has already 
acquired the habit is to sprinkle it lightly over each 
spoonful, using a large salt-shaker. A trial will show 
that less than a teaspoonful will be required for an entire 
saucer of porridge, if care is given to the shaking. The 
least possible shake will usually suffice. This suggestion 
is intended to help those mothers who perhaps may have 
unwisely allowed their little ones to eat cereals bounti- 
fully sprinkled with sugar. So far as possible, it is 
safer to keep a child from knowing anything about 
eating it with food of any kind ; but, if the habit has 
once been formed, try regulating it in this way, and 
see if the child will not infinitely prefer the sweet gritty 
taste of the few granules he gets by sprinkling each 
spoonful immediately before he eats it to eating a 
syrupy concoction of porridge, milk, and a larger 
quantity that has dissolved. I have seen a child of 
seven call for lump after lump of sugar for a small cup 
of cocoa simply because each lump dissolved before she 
could taste it, and she had no idea whatever of what 
sweet really meant. I have frequently seen this fact 



64 CHILDREN' S DIE T 

clearly demonstrated. I have also seen a child eat 
very contentedly a whole dish of oatmeal and cream 
minus salt or sugar, never missing the sugar, although 
accustomed to a little, because he was too intent upon 
something else to think of the action required to shake 
it over each teaspoonful of porridge. By simply watch- 
ing children as they eat, I have come to the conclusion 
that it is not necessary to sweeten foods to any great 
extent to gratify their palates, even if they have ac- 
quired the taste. If they must have sugar, let them 
have it just as it comes from the grocer, — a lump after 
dinner for dessert ; or, on special occasions, as a supple- 
ment to an unsatisfactory meal, it may be sprinkled 
very lightly upon a piece of bread and butter. When 
sugar is handled carefully, it may be made a very im- 
portant article of food, as, with a good digestion, it gives 
heat and energy and is easily assimilated. Efforts 
should always be made to supply it largely in its natural 
state, as in fruits, etc. 

Cool Morning Breakfasts. — For chilly days corn- 
meal mush may also be used for breakfast. The use of 
wheat and hominy need not be abandoned, but oatmeal 
and cornmeal may now be used for the variations needed 
in the more liberal and heat-giving dietary required for 
cooler weather. An occasional baked potato is a pleas- 
ant addition to the breakfast menu (supplying starch and 
salts), or a baked apple served with top milk, or pure 
sweet cream, if attainable, leaving this menu to be very 
simply completed with bread and butter and a dish 



DINNER MENUS IN COOLER WEATHER 65 

of rice or hominy, the starch element (carbohydrates) 
necessary to make a perfect combination. The apple 
is to be peeled before baking. Graham or corn- 
meal muffins, if thoroughly baked and made thin so 
that they are nearly all crust, will be enjoyed on cool 
mornings, and if made in this way they will be far 
more wholesome than stale bread that has been poorly 
baked. Too frequently the only virtue, so called, of 
one- day-old bread is the fact that it is stale. When 
muffins are crisp and dry throughout, they are ap- 
petizing and wholesome. They should not be given 
to a child when hot enough to melt the butter used, 
but when they are cool enough to put butter on in 
small pieces they will answer every purpose of good 
bread, and prove a pleasant variation. 

Dinner Menus in Cooler Weather. — For 
dinner menus in cooler weather a more liberal al- 
lowance of starchy foods may be used, such as potatoes, 
rice, purees of peas and beans, with tapioca and corn 
starch for desserts ; instead of the broths, meats may be 
used every day, and fish occasionally in summer ; pud- 
dings may now appear for desserts alternately with fruits, 
not forgetting that salts must be supplied in these menus 
by giving a green vegetable in connection ; as, for in- 
stance, rare roast beef (proteid), baked potato (starch 
and salts — carbohydrate), dish gravy, puree of spinach 
(salts), with wine jelly for dessert ; or, as a contrasting 
menu, roast lamb (proteid), rice (starch — served with 
salt and cream to supply fat lacking in rice), and dish 

5 



66 CHILDREN' S DIE T 

gravy, with some wholesome fruit, fresh or stewed, for 
dessert, thus supplying the necessary salts. 

Supper Menus should continue the same as those 
indicated for summer use, allowing the child to satisfy 
his appetite by taking as much bread and milk as he de- 
sires % or whatever else is given in its place. It can never 
be insisted upon too much that children should have light 
suppers, and that digestion should have its hardest work 
to do during the day, before evening comes. If care is 
taken in this direction, sleep will be sound, and rest will 
be refreshing. There is no more perfect food combina- 
tion for a child's supper than a bowl of bread and milk \ 
in many nurseries this fact seems to be entirely over- 
looked. It is easily prepared, contains all the ele- 
ments necessary for a perfect food, and deserves a prom- 
inent place in a child's dietary, provided the milk be 
pure and the bread wholesome. If by any unavoidable 
circumstance a child has been deprived of a sufficient 
amount of nourishment during the day, as sometimes 
happens when travelling, and a capricious appetite in- 
terferes with the enjoyment of the bowl of bread and 
milk for supper, try a raw egg beaten up very light, 
with a breakfast -cupful of milk, a little sugar, and a 
pinch of cinnamon added. This, with a piece of bread 
and butter, will make a full and easily digested meal, 
and is allowable for the evening meal under special 
circumstances. 

This is a fact to remember when one is away from 
home with children, and, through disinclination to give 



DIE T IN ILLNESS 6 7 

trouble, subject to dietetic difficulties that frequently 
seem insurmountable. 

Diet in Illness. 

Fonssagrives says, "Nursing is an instinct with 
women: a little added art would do no harm." 
Prevention is always better than cure ; and early care, 
with prompt recognition and treatment of symptoms, 
in conditions not normal, is far better than to allow 
the development of fevers, rickets, marasmus, and 
other innumerable ills to which children are con- 
stantly subjected unnecessarily on account of ignorance 
and carelessness upon the part of those who are respon- 
sible. The late Dr. John S. Parry, of Philadelphia, 
stated that more than one-quarter of all the children be- 
tween the ages of one month and five years who came 
under his observation in the Philadelphia Hospital 
during a period of three years were rachitic. Dr. Gee, 
of London, says that of the patients under the age of 
two years who have come under his observation in the 
London Hospital, one-third were rachitic." 

Bruen says, " The digestion of an infant should never 
be forced ; the true index may be found by studying the 
actions of the bowels. No method of feeding should be 
tolerated until the passages show that the food is being 
digested and appropriated." 

Process of Digestion. — It is usually supposed that 
every one interested in dietetics knows that digestion is 
the process that prepares food for absorption into the 



68 CHILDREN' S DIE T 

blood, and that by assimilation the different elements of 
food are selected for their work in the body ; that the 
teeth chew the food, and the saliva moistens it, making 
a beginning by partially digesting the starch in food, 
and that the stomach continues the work, followed by 
the intestines. But a clear understanding of this pro- 
cess is very rare among the laity. Inasmuch as every 
alimentary organ has its specific work to do, it must be 
plain that certain conditions call for certain foods ; that 
when digestion is faulty or disordered in any way, ad- 
vice is necessary as to which class of foods are to be 
withheld and which are to be given ; as, for instance, in 
typhoid fever there should be no tax upon the intestines, 
and foods must, therefore, be given that are easily ab- 
sorbed and digested in the stomach, such as peptonized 
milk or beef, white of egg in water, koumyss, etc. 

Mothers frequently err grievously in one direction, 
no doubt from lack of knowledge, in not seeing the ad- 
visability of total abstinence from food in cases of doubt, 
at least until a physician can be called. It is always 
the safest plan to follow, and it is the only way, some- 
times, by which absolute rest can be obtained for the 
diseased parts. 

Preventive Diet. — Fonssagrives says, " The num- 
ber of cases of disease which can be arrested in children 
by instituting a preventive diet is almost incredible. 
In them the digestive functions are in a state of activity 
proportionate to the need felt by their system for air 
and growth, and they are invariably involved in any 



FONSSAGRIVES' RULES 



69 



attack of disease. What, then, is more natural and 
more salutary than to give them rest at the outset of an 
indisposition ; but what is less commonly practiced ? 
This matter of diet has, in recent years, been the sub- 
ject of very important research, and it is now sufficiently 
cleared up ; but what I do maintain is that it is a ques- 
tion of the very greatest delicacy, which embarrasses 
educated physicians themselves, and consequently could 
not be authoritatively solved in the family. . . . One 
other piece of advice to mothers, not less salutary, is 
to restrict the treatment of an indisposition to diet 
alone. It almost always suffices for a cure, and if 
the attack must end in a disease, the ground has been 
cleared, the physician's action facilitated, and future 
complications rendered less probable." 

Fonssagrives' Rules to Follow in Illness. 

" Do not give food, even light food, in a condition 
of fever, unless the physician has recognized its pro- 
priety. 

" Treat indisposition by diet, and begin it as soon as 
may be. 

" Observe the effects of articles of food, and preserve 
the motions, to show to the physician. 

"Always ask the physician in regard to the interval 
which should elapse between the food and the medicine 
prescribed; feed children chiefly at their habitual meal- 
times, and give them only liquid food after four or five 
o'clock in the evening. 

"It is more important to preserve, as much as pos- 



yo CHILDREN' S DIE T 

sible, the regularity of a child's meals, even when taken 
with an acute disease. If it is only a broth, it is better 
to give it at the usual hours of eating. The disease of 
itself breaks in sufficiently upon established habits, 
without our intentionally adding to the disorder. 

" Note the likes and dislikes of patients in the 
matter of food, and do not insist upon dishes which 
disgust them. Nothing is less scientific that the abso- 
lute specification of the articles of food to be given. 
The physician should designate classes of food, so that 
the mother may choose, within their limits, the particu- 
lar article which the child most desires. It has been 
said, with reason, that a dish desired is half digested, 
and it is true of all ages. Yet it must be remarked 
that those mothers who understand the matter direct 
their children's alimentary tastes into almost any channel 
they please, or divert their repugnances by artifices 
known to themselves. They have nothing to learn in 
this respect. 

" Give only food of the very best quality and pre- 
pared with fastidious care. ' ' 

Liquid, Light, and Convalescent's Diet, — 
Another frequent source of trouble is met with in the 
effort to bring about an adequate comprehension of 
the terms liquid diet, light diet, convalescent diet, etc. 
Directions are frequently given to mothers and nurses 
in this general manner. Nurses are supposed to know 
what these terms mean, but many mothers need infor- 
mation in this respect. One might think a broiled 



ASK FOR DEFINITE DIRECTIONS ?I 

chop and a baked potato constituted a very light diet, 
whilst another would think it should be corn starch 
pudding, tea, and toast. Referring to this subject, the 
late Professor Gross, of Philadelphia,- — to whose utter- 
ances the weight of authority has always been accorded, 
— once said, " The diet of the sick-room has slain its 
thousands and tens of thousands. Broths and slops 
and jellies and custards and ptisans are usually as 
disgusting as they are pernicious. Men worn out by 
disease and injury must have nutritious and concentrated 
food. The ordinary preparations for the sick are, in 
general, not only not nutritious, but insipid and flatulent. 
Animal soups are among the most efficient supporters 
of the exhausted system, and every medical man should 
know how to give directions for their preparation. 
The life of a man is his food. Solid articles are, of 
course, withheld in acute diseases in their earlier stages • 
but when the patient begins to convalesce, they are 
frequently borne with impunity and greatly promote 
recovery. All animal soups should be made of lean 
meat, and their nutritious properties, as well as the 
flavor, may be much increased by the addition of some 
vegetable substances, as rice or barley." 

Ask Physicians for Definite Directions. — 
Directions should be specific if they are to be of benefit. 
Mothers should ask physicians for definite directions, 
and insist upon having them, and then follow them to 
the letter. 

The usual acceptation of the term liquid diet implies 



72 



CHILDREN'S DIET 



meat broths, milk, whether peptonized or not, beef 
juice, gruels, barley water, white of egg, mulled egg, 
whey, wine and water, etc., all of which are to be 
given under the direction of the physician, as it is 
during fevers and acute stages of disease that they are 
required. It is a difficult and important matter to 
determine the kind and quality required during twenty- 
four hours, the intervals to be allowed, and the tem- 
perature of the liquid foods to be given. 

Light diet is the term usually employed to designate 
the foods to be given during convalescence, and consists 
of very simple and easily digested foods. Fresh-laid 
eggs may be used when changing from the broth diet to 
solid food. They should be cooked in hot water, as 
directed elsewhere. Fonssagrives gives a method that 
he asserts to be infallible for making the whites of eggs 
milky in cooking, which he says is the proof of good 
cooking and the promise of easy digestion. It is to 
have a tumbler (or a cup) filled with water brought to 
the boiling-point, in which the egg is to be placed; 
withdraw the glass or cup from the heat, and take out 
the egg when it can be done without scalding the fingers. 
Eight minutes' immersion in boiling water that has 
been taken from the source of heat and covered will 
usually be found to serve the purpose. Something 
depends upon the freshness of the egg. 

Light diet consists of everything included in liquid 
diet, fruit, such as grapes and oranges, boiled or poached 
eggs, dry and milk toast, all the soups allowed in the 



CONVALESCENT DIE T 73 

nursery, delicate puddings, scraped beef, the tender 
part of oysters, jellies made with gelatin, either sweet, 
with fruit flavoring or wine, or not sweet, using salt 
with meat and chicken broths, etc. The change to 
light from liquid diet should be very gradually made, 
adding one new food at a time. 

The following rules should always be observed in 
preparing, cooking, and serving food for the sick : 
"All the utensils employed should be scrupulously 
clean. Never make a large quantity of one thing at a 
time. Serve everything in as tempting a form as pos- 
sible. Put only a small quantity of an article on a dish 
at a time. Keep milk and other delicacies on ice in 
warm weather. Never leave food about a sick-room. 
Never offer beef tea or broth with the smallest particle 
of fat or grease on it. " 

Convalescent Diet differs only from the ordinary 
diet to which the child is accustomed in its extreme 
simplicity and the small quantities allowed. One or two 
foods only should be used at one meal. Bread, fresh 
eggs, fish, oysters, meat and cooked fruits, and a few 
of the most easily digested vegetables, are the foods 
from which to select. Remember that the sudden sight 
of food is sometimes an appetizer, and that a convales- 
cent will often eat what is brought to him unawares, and 
refuse to eat what he has himself been asked to choose, 
or deny that he has an appetite when food is mentioned. 

Practical Points by Dr. Burnet Concerning 
Food in Illness. — The following is a summary of prac- 



74 



CHILDREN' S DIE T 



tical points for use with children, as suggested by the 
remarks of R. W. Burnet, M.D.,* concerning foods in 
illness : Drinking hot water at bedtime and cold or hot 
in the morning before breakfast for dyspeptic disorders ; 
— a teaspoonful of malt added to a cup of milk when 
keeping up milk diet for growing boys and girls who 
are anaemic ; — the use of additional cream in food as a 
laxative ; — in mucous diarrhoea to use farinaceous foods, 
such as arrowroot, tapioca, sago, with milk, white of 
egg y to give small quantities of food at short intervals, 
to keep the patient warm, the food to be neither hot nor 
cold, to be eaten slowly, a teaspoonful at a time, to use 
brandy if physician advises, and to use meat juice when 
farinaceous foods will not do ; — in kidney troubles, 
often following scarlet fever, etc., to feed very lightly, 
to cut down albuminoids under the physician's advice, 
to use milk as a sole diet for children in this trouble, 
and for convalescence to give the usual nursery menus 
minus meat ; — in scurvy, caused by restricted diet, if 
fresh vegetables or fruit cannot be had, to use lemon 
juice (purees are a useful form for vegetables in this 
trouble, and all softer foods of nursery dietaries). 

Diet for Anaemic Children. — Anaemia may oc- 
cur in connection with all diseases. For dietaries for 
anaemic children any of the nursery menus given may be 
used, with a glass of cocoa or beef tea half-way between 
meals, and before bed a cup of peptonized or malted 

* Foods and Dietaries. 



DIET FOR ANjEMIC CHILDREN 



75 



milk (a teaspoonful of extract of malt to a cup of milk) . 
Cream added to whey is a useful food for children of 
consumptive inheritance. They should early have salts 
of tender meats, vegetables and fruits, a sufficient quan- 
tity of milk, open air life, little study, and an abundant 
and easily assimilated diet. Bronchitis requires a liberal 
dietary of light, nourishing food. Diphtheria requires 
abundant nourishment. There is danger of overfeeding 
in typhoid fever ; milk should be carefully taken, and it 
should be peptonized when used. In diarrhoea, gelatin 
and arrowroot, white of egg and water, peptonized milk, 
etc., are useful. Special dietaries must be given by the 
physician, as each case must be individualized, and we 
should be able to select the kind of food required and 
the form in which to give it, and also to direct how it 
should be prepared. 

Foods that are decidedly laxative and allowable for 
children are ripe peaches, stewed rhubarb, stewed or 
dried prunes, figs, dates, oranges, apples, oatmeal por- 
ridge, bran mush, Indian meal mush, whole meal 
bread, rye and Graham bread, all cereals made of the 
whole grain, tomatoes, spinach, boiled Spanish onions, 
etc. 

Dr. Thompson says :* 

"Gingerbread, especially for children, is sometimes 
efficacious. 

" Grape juice is somewhat laxative. 



Practical Dietetics, by W. Oilman Thompson, M.D. 



7 6 



CHILDREN'S DIET 



" Olive oil or cod-liver oil, if taken at bedtime into 
an empty stomach, is laxative for some persons, espe- 
cially children. 

" With many persons having imperfect digestion raw 
fruits disagree ; and, since their laxative properties are 
not much weakened by being cooked, it is better to eat 
them in that form. ' ' 

Use of 'Water as a Laxative. — A baby should 
be offered water six or seven times a day. For older 
children, it should be remembered that water is needed 
according to activity and to bodily temperature, — 
the greater the activity, the greater the need for 
water. 

A child weighing forty pounds should drink at least 
twenty ounces of water a day, and hot weather calls for 
more. 

Rules for Cases of Poisoning. — Inasmuch as 
children are frequently poisoned by eating sweets im- 
properly prepared, or berries, or seeds, or by sucking 
painted toys, their treatment under such conditions be- 
comes a matter very closely related to dietetics. Jane 
H. Walker, M.D., says : * " The first and most impor- 
tant thing is to make the child vomit as speedily as pos- 
sible, ... to tickle the back of the throat with a 
feather, and give large drinks of lukewarm water, or of 
mustard and warm water. A teaspoonful of mustard 
in a tumbler of warm water is very efficacious. Greasy 

* A Book for Every Woman, Longmans, Green & Co. 



ANTID O TES FOR POISONS y y 

or soapy water, if it is the readiest obtainable, does per- 
fectly ; soapy water has the advantage that if the poison- 
ous substance taken be an acid, it is an excellent anti- 
dote. See that the child is repeatedly nauseated, and 
then give it bland, soothing substances, such as white 
of egg beaten up, milk, barley water, or oil. These 
help if the poison has been of an irritating character, 
such as carbolic acid. 

" If there is great depression, stimulants must be 
given and hot-water bottles applied. The best stimu- 
lant is strong hot tea, because it is an antidote to many 
poisons. 

" If there is great tendency to sleep, it must be pre- 
vented at all cost. This tendency generally shows that 
opium in one of its numerous preparations has been 
taken, and sleep indulged in at this time will probably 
be the sleep that knows no waking. When the poison- 
ous substance that has been taken is known, the method 
of procedure differs with the particular poison." 



Antidotes for Poisons. 

Useful Hints for Emergencies. 

In cases where the other articles to be used as anti- 
dotes are not in the house, give two tablespoonfuls of 
made mustard in a pint of warm water. Also give 
large draughts of warm milk or water mixed with oil, 
butter, or lard. If possible, give as follows : 



73 



CHILDREN'S DIET 



For bedbug poison, 
blue vitriol, 
corrosive sublimate, 
lead water, 
saltpetre, 
sugar of lead, 
sulphate of zinc, 
red precipitate, 
vermilion, 

For Fowler's solution, 
white precipitate, 
arsenic, 



For antimonial wine, 
tartar emetic, 

For oil of vitriol, 

aqua fortis, 

bicarbonate of potas- 
sium, 

hydrochloric acid, 

oxalic acid, 
For caustic soda, 

caustic potash, 

volatile alkali, 



For carbolic acid, 



For chloral hydrate, 
chloroform, 



Give milk or white of eggs in large 
quantities. 



Give prompt emetic of mustard 
and salt, tablespoonful of each ; 
follow with sweet oil, butter, or 
J milk. 

) Drink warm water to encourage 
vomiting. If vomiting does not 
stop, give a grain of opium in 

I water. 



. Magnesia or soap dissolved in water, 
every two minutes. 



Drink freely of water with vinegar 
or lemon juice in it. 

Give flour and water or glutinous 
drinks (olive oil in large quanti- 
ties, then an emetic, is recom- 
mended by Dr. Walker). 

1 Pour cold water over the head and 
V face, with artificial respiration, 
and galvanic battery. 



copperas, 
cobalt, 



DIE T FOR SCIIO 01 - CHI ID REN y g 

For carbonate of sodium, ] 

Prompt emetics ; soap or mucilagi- 
nous drinks. 

j 

Strong coffee, followed by ground 
mustard or grease in warm water 
to produce vomiting. Keep in 
motion. 



For laudanum, 
morphine, 

opium ( paregoric car- 
minatives, 



For nitrate of silver, V Give common salt in water. 

For strychnine (rat and beetle I 

v . Emetic of mustard or sulphate of 

' r . zinc, aided by warm water. * 

tincture of nux vomica, J 

J 

Diet for School-Children. — -Yeo emphasizes the 
period of school-life as one of the most critical and im- 
portant epochs in the life of children as regards ade- 
quate nutrition. He says that at this period there is not 
only continuous growth and development, but remarka- 
ble activity, which demands a complete and liberal die- 
tary. Teachers in boarding-schools are apt to overlook 
this fact, and parents, as a rule, know little of the 
necessity for additional care at this time, with the result 
only too often of the foundation being laid for future 
disease, or of the undermining of strength that should 
be held in reserve for later life. Both body and mind 
are undergoing rapid development at this time, and the 
greatest care should be exercised. The food must be 
abundant, and must contain sufficient proteids, starches, 
sugars, and inorganic salts to meet the constant demand 

* American Analyst. 



8o CHILDREN' S DIE T 

for these constituents of a perfect food. It must be re- 
membered that this is a period when digestion and 
assimilation are active. It is a frequent custom among 
mothers of growing boys and girls going to school to 
jest about their immense appetites, and not only to jest, 
but actually to limit supplies of certain foods especially 
needed at this period. The custom of sending chil- 
dren to school upon a light breakfast or none at all, 
with a cold luncheon for the noon meal, is reprehensi- 
ble to the last degree. Or, if a hot dinner is provided, 
the habit of rushing home at noon in a limited time to 
consume eagerly and rapidly the food which should be 
eaten leisurely and enjoyed, should not be allowed un- 
der any circumstances. If school laws are rigid, re- 
member that parental authority should be absolute, and 
insist upon different hours ; or, if nothing better can be 
done, keep the child away for the time required, irre- 
spective of late-marks, etc. Such action, if concerted, 
would speedily bring authorities to the point of meeting 
existing needs in this direction. Do not forget that 
there is a lifetime for study and only part of one during 
which the physical building-up process can be regulated. 
Good Rules to Follow. — To sum up the rules laid 
down by Yeo, Dukes, Thompson, and others, the foods 
required during this period are as follows : Well-made 
whole-meal bread ; as much butter as is desired ; an 
abundant supply of milk all through adolescence ; 
starches and sugars should be freely supplied (giving 
heat and force) ; meat twice a day ; fish for delicate 



TREATMENT OF FEEBLE SCHOOL-CHILDREN 8 1 

feeders ; green vegetables in abundance, either alone or 
in vegetable soups (to prevent eczema) ; suppers should 
be light, not stimulating ; the craving for sweets should 
be satisfied with moderation and wisdom in selection ; 
a free use of salads should be made ; all cooking should 
be carefully looked after, and food should be made 
savory and appetizing ; in fact, the rules given by diet- 
ists for early life should be carried out through the 
entire period of childhood to adult life, and, indeed, 
many of the suggestions may be followed with benefit 
even then. 

Treatment of Feeble School Children. — 
Dr. Thompson says many children inherit feeble con- 
stitutions, such as the scrofulous, rachitic, and gouty, 
which must be combated through the whole period of 
childhood. He says such children are better at home, 
where they can be under constant observation and 
proper dietetic treatment, or country schools can" be 
found for them where such matters are made the sub- 
ject of special consideration. He speaks of the large 
number of cases of anaemia and chlorosis seen in young 
girls which he says are directly traceable to malnutrition 
from faulty diet. This fact may serve to show to some 
parents why Providence, as they say, has so frequently 
afflicted their growing daughters with delicate health, 
which is more frequently their lament than their shame. 
I think it was Shirley Dare who said that the day will 
come when many forms of illness will be considered a 

discredit to those involved. As the knowledge of causes 

6 



8 2 CHILDREN' S DIE T 

increases there will certainly come a less ready willing- 
ness to credit everything to a hitherto much-abused 
Providence. The patience of physicians in dealing 
with this class of diseases is a constantly growing mar- 
vel. 

Inasmuch as Dr. Thompson* has covered the subject 
of school diet so thoroughly, liberal quotations are made 
in the interest of our readers. 

" Girls take much less exercise than boys, as 
a rule, and are more apt to become constipated. This 
difficulty may be increased by lack of sufficient fresh 
vegetables or fruit in their diet, and if prolonged it is 
enough in itself to cause anaemia. The latter (anaemia) 
may also be brought about by insufficient good animal 
food. It should be the imperative duty of every head 
master of a school for children to realize the responsi- 
bilities of rightly developing the physical constitution 
of those intrusted to his care, and to make a thorough 
study of the questions of dietetics involved. 

" An important consideration in school diet is to 
prevent monotony, which becomes so common from 
economic reasons, or more often from carelessness. It 
is much easier to yield to routine and force of habit, 
or to leave the matter to the indiscretions of an un- 
intelligent cook. But a little study and thought ex- 
pended upon this subject can always result in furnishing 
variety in a wholesome diet without material increase 
of expense. 

* Practical Dietetics, W. Gilman Thompson, M.D. 



GIRLS' INSUFFICIENT EXERCISE 83 

"The hours for study and for meals should be so 
regulated that sufficient time should be allowed before 
each meal for children to wash and prepare themselves 
comfortably, without going to the table excited by 
hurry, and they should be required to remain at the 
table throughout a fixed time, never being allowed to 
hastily swallow their food in order to complete an un- 
finished task or game. An interval of half an hour 
or more should intervene for recreation after meals, 
in order that digestion may be well under way before 
any mental exertion is required. Constant nibbling at 
food between meals should be forbidden ; it destroys 
the appetite, increases the saliva, and interferes with 
gastric digestion. The number of meals for children 
should be adapted to the age of the pupils. For young 
children from ten to twelve or thirteen years of age it 
may be necessary to furnish food somewhat oftener than 
for the older ones. 

"If children live at a distance from their school, or 
if they are weak and easily fatigued and inclined to 
sleep over in the morning, their hours for study should 
be so adjusted that they are never obliged to hurry their 
eating in order to be on time for school work. The 
teachers should consider themselves quite as responsible 
for regulating this matter as are the parents. 

" Children should never be hurried off to school in 
the ?norning with an insufficient and rapidly eaten 
breakfast. Their appetites are often poor at this hour 
from the effects of an ill-ventilated sleeping apartment, 



84 CHILDREN'S DIET 

and if they are subsequently kept at school for five 
hours without luncheon they will be very ill prepared 
for mental work. Or they ride to school without 
exercise after a hasty breakfast, take a hurried cold 
lunch at noon, and perhaps a warmed over late dinner, 
and at six or seven o'clock a fourth meal, after which 
they are expected to study and go to bed. 

" It is being more and more realized by teachers and 
the public in general that the breaking down of health 
at school is quite as often, if not oftener, due to impov- 
erished nutrition than to overwork. 

"A fact which is often overlooked in the dietetic 
treatment of growing children is that their digestive 
processes are so active that the stomach is emptied 
somewhat sooner than in the case of adults, and, their 
meals being promptly absorbed, it is natural for them 
to become hungry if the intervals between the hours of 
eating are prolonged. In some schools, children are 
given their last meal of the day at six o'clock in the 
evening, and they may not breakfast until seven or half- 
past seven, or even later, leaving an interval of over 
thirteen hours during which they have no food at all. 
The evening meal is usually made light, on the ground 
that they can sleep better, and it is therefore sooner 
digested. Robust children can, perhaps, thrive on this 
treatment, but those less strong are iiijured by it. For 
some school-children of from ten to fourteen years of 
age it will be much better to give the evening meal 
later, at say seven o'clock, and the breakfast at half- past 



GIRLS' INSUFFICIENT EXERCISE 



85 



six or seven, and if they awaken hungry during the 
night, there is no harm in their having a glass of milk 
and a cracker. 

" Very delicate children whose appetites are poor and 
who do not do justice to their regular meals should be 
given an extra allowance of hot broth or hot milk, or 
an occasional cup of chocolate, with bread and butter 
and rusk, between meals. 

' ' These general rules are applicable in cases of children 
who, during one or two years, seem to develop with 
extraordinary suddenness and rapidity, growing some- 
times two inches or more in six months, and attaining a 
height quite disproportionate to their frames. The de- 
mands of this rapid growth must be met by proper nu- 
trition, or serious subsequent impairment of vitality may 
result. Such children should have their meals made 
tempting by good cooking and pleasant variety, as w r ell 
as an agreeable appearance of the food. 

" Meat which is carved in unsightly masses, and veg- 
etables which are sodden and tasteless, will be refused, 
and an ill attempt is made to supply the deficiency in 
proper food by eating indigestible candy, nuts, etc. 
Children often have no natural liking for meat, and 
prefer puddings, pastry, or sweets when they can obtain 
them, and it is the more important that meat should be 
made attractive to them at the age when they need it. 

"It is unnecessary to discuss further questions which, 
after all, must be controlled by tact and circumstances 
of indivdiual cases, and the line must be drawn with 



86 CHILDREN'S DIET 

care between 7naking a child too fastidious on the one 
hand in regard to the nature of its food, and, on the 
other hand, impairing its constitution by monotony of 
diet and ill-cooked viands. Children at school should 
especially be required to eat slowly, for the habit of fast 
eating is almost contagious, and, as it is much easier to 
acquire than to overcome, the foundation of dyspepsia 
and life-long discomfort may be laid in this way in 
childhood." 

A Sample School Diet. — " If early rising is in- 
sisted upon, a child should never be set any task before 
breakfast, especially in winter, and if it is not expedient 
to serve a full breakfast at half- past six or seven, the 
child should be given a bowl of hot milk and bread, or a 
cup of cocoa with a roll, or other light food ; breakfast 
may be served later, after the first exercises of the 
morning, and should be a substantial meal with animal 
food in the form of either fish, or eggs, or cold meat 
of some sort, with porridge of wheaten grits, or hom- 
iny with milk or cream and abundant sugar, also bread 
and butter, with some sweets in the form of jam, or 
marmalade, or stewed fruit. Dinner, which should 
always be served near the middle of the day, should 
comprise meat, potatoes, with one or two green vegeta- 
bles, and some form of sweet pudding. The supper, 
it is generally admitted, should comprise only easily 
digested articles of food, and such substances as pastry, 
cheese and meats are better omitted. It should con- 
sist of either a porridge with milk or cream, or a light 



A SAMPLE SCHOOL DIET 87 

farinaceous pudding of rice, tapioca, sago, and the like, 
with bread and butter, and some simple form of pre- 
serve ; or stewed apples or prunes, or very light plain 
cake, or a good bowl of nutritious broth with bread or 
crackers may be substituted for the porridge or pud- 
ding. It will sometimes be found best to serve this 
meal at seven o'clock or half-past seven \ and, if hungry, 
the child may be given a slice of bread and butter and 
a cup of weak tea or coffee, mostly hot milk, at half- 
past five or six o'clock. 

u Children need fat, but they do not digest meat fat 
well, as a rule, and are very apt to dislike it. They 
will often take suet pudding, however, when hot mutton 
fat wholly disagrees with them. 

"Milk should be freely supplied, not only in the 
form of puddings and porridges, but as an occasional 
beverage, and children should be made to understand that 
when hungry they can obtain a glass of milk, biscuit, or a 
bowl of bread and milk, for the asking. 

" Fresh fish, eggs and bacon are all wholesome and 
serviceable foods for children, and meat, as a rule, may 
be given twice a day, but not oftener. It may some- 
times be advisable to give it but once a day when fish 
or eggs are supplied ; it should, however, always be 
given at least once daily, and better twice to rapidly 
growing children. Large, strong boys require a great 
deal of meat, and its use should not be stinted. The 
larger boys may eat from seven to nine or even twelve 
ounces of cooked meat as a ration, although many 



8 8 CHILDREN' S DIE T 

children may not require so much, the smaller boys 
doing well with from five to six ounces, and the older 
boys with from seven to eight ounces daily. 

" During midwinter, when fresh vegetables are almost 
unobtainable in severe climates, vigorous boys are apt 
to have too much meat given them, and Yeo calls atten- 
tion to the fact that eczema may be produced in them 
by a too exclusive animal diet. 

" Overeating should be guarded against. The habit 
of slow eating should be insisted upon. 

"It is well to allow children to play but moderately 
immediately after eating, and to require no mental work 
of them at such times. 

" For some reason the diet in girls' schools is apt to 
be much less carefully regulated than in corresponding 
schools for boys. This applies not only in the United 
States, but it has been found the common experience in 
England and France ; it is the more unfortunate, since 
girls, from their greater delicacy of constitution, espe- 
cially during school age, require more careful nurture. 
Differences in habits and exercise and out-door recrea- 
tion, no doubt, in part, are responsible for the compara- 
tive lack of proper development in some girls' schools 
as compared with boys', but this should be recognized 
and regulated with as much care as the diet. 

" During the establishment of puberty it is best for 
children to avoid stimulating and highly seasoned food, 
and eating late at night. . . . Alcohol should be 
wholly forbidden." 



SCHOOL LUNCHEONS 



89 



The British Medical Journal says, in commenting on 
an article in the St. James' s Gazette, on the question 
whether "parents underfeed their children," that "it 
is only too true that underfeeding prevails, — particularly 
in the girls' school ; not the underfeeding of necessity, 
but the semi -starvation due to ignorance or meanness. 
The facts would be revealed at once, and the greatest 
benefit be conferred upon the life, health, happiness, 
and growth of children, if we could impress upon 
parents and teachers the value of scales and measure. 
Every age has its normal height and weight, and every 
season and every year its normal rate of growth. The 
diet may be inadequate in proportion to the work re- 
quired to be done, especially where work is required 
before food, as in early morning lessons. . . . Insuffi- 
cient care is taken at home, and still more at school, to 
provide an adequate variety in feeding. It is often the 
same, day after day, week after week, and year after 
year. The outcry against the feeding at schools, which 
arises from time to time, is frequently to be traced to 
this defect. Most of the causes of the underfeeding of 
children, both at home and at school, would disappear 
if the scales and measure were systematically resorted 
to, for they would instantly point out those children 
who were not thriving. Unnatural and unreasonable 
restraints would be removed by parents and teachers, 
if hindrances to growth were so palpably presented to 
them." 

School Luncheons. — The editor of the well-known 



9 o CHILDREN' S DIE T 

household column in the Philadelphia Ledger discusses 
the question of school lunches in a thoroughly practical 
manner, and as the problem is an important one in con- 
nection with food for growing children, I will give you 
the salient points of her article. 

She says : " So much attention is now being given to 
the scientific value of foods that no intelligent house- 
keeper needs to be reminded of the fact that age and 
occupation must be taken into consideration when pre- 
paring the daily menu for the members of her family. 

' ' But the problem becomes an important one when 
we realize that upon the food of our children depends 
their healthful development, and that upon this depends, 
in a large measure, the future of the state. 

"When we know that the right food, chemically 
considered, and not the most delicious or tempting, is 
the basis of all growth, mental as well as physical, the 
importance of the subject in regard to children becomes 
overwhelming. 

"The majority of the children who are soon to be 
men and women, fathers and mothers, in their turn, is 
now being educated in our public schools, and threaded 
through and through the school communities are chil- 
dren who represent hundreds of thousands of homes 
where proper food is never thought of, and where such 
a matter as getting a given amount of nourishment for 
a given expenditure is never considered. 

" Boston, four years ago, turned its attention to these 
facts, and, as a matter of experiment, decided to assume 



SCHOOL LUNCHEONS gi 

some control of the noon luncheons of the higher grade 
schools. It was hoped by this to improve the nutrition 
of the children, and indirectly to improve home con- 
ditions, where the need existed, by educating the boys 
and girls to a higher standard of living, cookery and 
cleanliness. 

" Other cities, East and West, have watched the 
experiment with interest, and have offered the Hub the 
flattery of imitation more or less close, and in most of 
the higher schools are well in line for the new order of 
things. ' ' 

The state of things in the Philadelphia Normal School 
for Girls is best described in a letter sent the House- 
hold by a woman in charge of the luncheons served 
there : 

<f We have demonstrated," she writes, " that the av- 
erage school girl, in spite of the fact that she has been 
accused of a special predilection for pickles, pretzels, 
and sweets, does appreciate a wholesome, hygienic 
luncheon. A large basement room of the building has 
been fitted by the committee on the school with tables- 
and stools and a long lunch counter at one end of the 
room. Other tables have been placed in the corridor 
in order to seat as many as possible, although the ca- 
pacity is even now wholly inadequate. Another room 
with separate counters accommodates the pupils of the 
School of Practice. 

" The success of the new arrangement has more than 
satisfied all the hopes of the committee of the faculty 



9 2 CHILDREN'S DIET 

who have the matter in charge. Quarter before twelve 
luncheon is ready, four attendants standing behind the 
counter, to serve the students as quickly as possible. 
About five hundred buy either a part or all of their 
luncheon. 

"The menu each day consists of soup, cocoa, sand- 
wiches, milk, fruits, rusk, biscuits and cakes of different 
kinds. The soup varies each day, as well as the sand- 
wiches and cakes. Great care is given to keeping the 
soup and cocoa hot. 

' ' During the warm weather ice cream was served 
every day ; now it appears but twice a week. Whole 
wheat bread has been introduced, and is rapidly grow- 
ing in favor. Believing in the old adage of the horse 
who couldn't be made to drink, the committee decided 
that some concessions must be made at first, and that 
only gradually would the more wholesome articles be 
given preference. That time is rapidly approaching. It 
is more often now that cakes are seen on the counter after 
lunch is over, where formerly it was sandwiches and fruit. 

" Since many students bring a part of their lunches, 
the food purchased does not, of course, indicate alto- 
gether the quality of the luncheon actually eaten. Fifty 
sandwiches a day seem a small number to sell to so 
many, but probably most of the girls bring this substan- 
tial part of the lunch from home. 

"It is the hope of those now serving the lunch to 
prepare hot dishes other than soup for the same price, 
in order to give as much variety as possible. ' ' 



SCHOOL LUNCHEONS. 93 

The committee on hygiene of the Boston School 
Board {which committee, by the way, should be dupli- 
cated 07i every school board) went a step further in se- 
curing an order to the effect that only such food as was 
approved by it should be sold in the city school houses. 
They then placed the task of supplying suitable lunches 
with the New England Kitchen (an institution somewhat 
similar to our College Settlement Kitchen), and although 
at first private funds were needed, the experiment soon 
proved its success by becoming self-supporting. 

The beneficial effects of these simple, hearty lunch- 
eons on the mental vigor of the students and their ap- 
preciation of their value were practically shown during 
the school year and fully reported. A noticeable bene- 
fit was reported by the parents also. 

The Household editor says, pertinently : " With all 
these favorable and encouraging results, why are these 
experiments not repeated in every one-session school in 
the country ? 

"Although our cities and towns do not yet admit, as 
those of the more paternal governments have done, 
that their responsibility for the children while in school 
includes the care of the body as well as of the mind, 
yet this responsibility is being somewhat recognized 
when the newest high-school buildings are planned with 
kitchen and lunch -rooms. But furnishing the equip- 
ment is but the first step in the right direction, and 
placing the work of supplying food in the hands of any 
one individual is but the second. Even should the 



94 



CHILDREN'S DIET 



city or town assume the financial responsibility of these 
luncheons, the plans would be incomplete without some 
one to set a standard of quality and cleanliness, to insist 
that the food must be not only attractive, but of good 
nutritive value, suitable for the children and served in 
proper fashion. Some one, too, must have strength 
of mind to stand firm for the principles involved, even 
if the boys ' go on a pie strike,' as happened in a neigh- 
boring city, or if the bakeshop around the corner hangs 
up a sign that reads ' Here you can get what you want, 
and not what the city says you must have. ' 

" And the educational side is not the least of the 
work, while the mothers still ask, ' Why are you not 
willing to selling pies?' 

"The lunch may be sent, as in Boston, from one 
central station, or it may be largely prepared in the 
school kitchen. Each method has been successfully 
tried, and each has its own special advantages; but 
under either or any condition, the essential point is the 
maintenance of a high standard of cleanliness and 
quality by some one with a broader point of view than 
is possible to the perso7i who comes directly in contact 
with the children at the lunch counter. 

' ' Is there any doubt that a broad-minded educated 
woman is the one best fitted to hold that standard for the 
community, or that this work is worthy of her efforts ? 

" It may seem prosaic, and it will be full of petty 
details, but it has its inspiring side also in the conscious- 
ness that it may bring an influence of far-reaching effect 



SCHOOL LUNCHEONS 



95 



on the physical and, consequently, mental and moral 
vigor of the men and women of the coming genera- 
tion." 

Professor Dutton, in response to a personal request for 
the same, writes in regard to this question as follows : 

"The lunch room becomes at once a central factor in 
any well-conducted school. Its importance is increased 
by the fact that the breakfast is often too hastily eaten, 
and hence is insufficient to sustain the child during the 
entire morning. 

"The Horace Mann School is equipped with a lunch 
room large enough to seat three hundred pupils at tables. 
Connected with it is an ample kitchen equipped with the 
necessary steam tables, ranges, urns, etc., for keeping 
food hot. The children in the elementary school oc- 
cupy the lunch room from 11,30 A.M. to 12 m. \ the high 
school pupils from 12.15 to 1 p.m. ; and after that the 
students of Teachers' College are admitted. It is under 
the same general management as the Columbia Univer- 
sity lunch room, and while the ideal has probably never 
been reached in such matters, the dietaries provided are 
nutritious and wholesome. Many pupils prefer to bring 
from home a portion of their lunch, as, for example, a 
sandwich or bread and butter, and to supplement this 
with a cup of hot soup or bouillon, with, perhaps, a cup 
of cocoa or a glass of milk. As the pupils enter the 
lunch room each one takes a tray, and, passing along in 
front of the counter, takes what he desires, and pays for 
it at the cashier's desk. The only thing needed is to 



9 6 



CHILDREN'S DIET 



secure greater perfection in the selection and prepara- 
tion of the daily menu. A committee, consisting of 
the teachers, college physician, and the principals of 
the high and elementary schools, have this matter in 
charge, and is working in co-operation with the caterer. 

" The health of the pupils is singularly good, and the 
success of the school in its various athletic enterprises 
is marked. Doubtless, some of the credit for this should 
be awarded the lunch room. The large expense devoted 
to this feature of the school is only a recognition of the 
principle, now so well established, that physical health 
transcends all other considerations in the rearing of chil- 
dren, and that a school must manage its affairs with this 
idea in view. ' ' 

The growing interest felt now throughout the country 
in the subject of the food and nutrition of man brings 
about the question : What place should this work take 
in the schools, and to what extent can it be intro- 
duced ? 

In presenting the history of the movement diat 
brought the teaching of cooking into the public schools 
of New York City (see Government Bulletin No. 56, 
United States Department of Agriculture), I endeavored 
to show the pedagogical as well as the practical value 
of this branch of manual training. Dr. True, director 
of the office of experiment stations, says, in regard to 
the subject of instruction in cooking, that this branch 
of manual training, as introduced into public and pri- 
vate schools, is steadily increasing in the favor of many 



SCHOOL LUNCHEONS 



97 



school officers and of the people who support and patron- 
ize the schools. It has been found possible to adjust the 
relations of the practical exercises to the general educa- 
tional features, so as to maintain the interest of pupils 
in the mere routine processes of education, but at the 
same time to furnish them with some degree of practical 
skill and knowledge of direct utility to them i?i the various 
industries on which the livelihood of the masses of our 
population depend. 

Much of this work has been done in co-operation 
with social settlements ; special effort has been made in 
the attempt to acquaint the public with the practical re- 
sults of such work, and such reports show the necessity 
of a more thorough training, from a broad standpoint, 
of teachers of domestic science. They also show to 
those who are vitally interested in the progress of com- 
mon schools in country districts something of the organ- 
ized effort which is being made to adapt the course of 
instruction in our city schools to the actual needs of the 
children. 

Would it not be possible for the hygiene committees of 
school boards to correlate the cooking school attached with 
the school lunch question ? Would it not be possible for 
cooking classes to be held at such an hour as to make it 
practicable to prepare the luncheons needed for the chil- 
dren, thus centralizing effort, and not only utilize the ped- 
agogical and utilitarian value of such training, but also 
keep in view the economical aspect, while providing the 
children with what, of necessity, would prove of immense 

7 



9 8 CHILDREN' S DIE T 

benefit when considered from every standpoint ? Such 
concerted work in the schools could be made to reach 
out and meet the efforts toward practical issues that are 
being made by associations like the Home Improvement 
Club, which is meant to improve the east side homes in 
New York ; the Household Economic Association, 
which does good work in the tenement districts in New 
York through its classes for teaching cooking ; the Hart- 
ley House work and other similar efforts made through- 
out the United States, notably that of Henry Tibbits in 
Chicago. 

Professor Dutton writes also in regard to school gardens 
and their corollary, home science teaching, as follows : 

" Happy is the child born and nurtured in the coun- 
try, where grass and flowers are his ordinary compan- 
ions ; where in field and forest he sees all kinds of life, 
and is daily learning from Mother Nature the rich and 
subtle lesson she has to teach. 

1 ' How difficult in town and city to make up this 
loss to children whose environment is a dreary waste of 
paved streets and houses of brick and stone. A box in 
the window or an occasional bouquet of flowers from the 
greenhouse is but a poor substitute for the grand out-of- 
doors which the country child enjoys. 

"Surely, a people so wealthy, so intelligent, and so 
generous, will soon devise some means of permitting our 
city children to experience and enjoy Nature in her larger 
and more health-giving phases. The school garden is 
likely to become here, as it already has in Europe, a fea- 



SCHOOL LUNCHEONS 99 

ture of early school life. In many of our larger towns and 
cities it is perfectly feasible to secure vacant lots of land 
at small expense for this purpose. In New York the 
problem seems more difficult. With the transit facilities 
promised for the near future, it may become possible to 
institute weekly or bi-weekly half- days in the country 
for the boys and girls who are old enough to go, under 
the direction of their teachers. Large tracts of land 
should be leased or bought on Long Island, in New 
Jersey, or in Connecticut, for school gardens. These 
gardens should be in charge of competent persons. The 
planting should be widely differentiated, the simpler 
work being done by the younger children, and the more 
difficult and complex by the older. For such municipal 
effort for the betterment of children, trolly cars should 
be free. The vacation school problem would then be 
largely simplified, and its value greatly enhanced. Nature 
study would become real and not artificial. The child 
of the tenement house would know the world of his an- 
cestors, and would have his choice of life's opportuni 
ties greatly widened. 

" It is safe to predict that leading the growth of our 
cities out to Nature and up to Nature's God will tend 
to promote health and happiness, and will lessen dis- 
comfort and crime. ' ' 

Unification of effoi't and systematic basic work in 
school conditions could easily bring about such a con- 
summation, and every thinking person must certainly 
concede the necessity for such unification. 

LofC. 



T 00 CHILDREN' S DIE T 

When facing difficulties such as are already granted to 
exist in present food conditions of school children, we must 
find the quickest and easiest way out of difficulty in order 
to achieve results. Theory must be instantly reduced to 
practice; the lack of this is one of the crying evils of to- 
day in the study of home science, and a word of caution 
might well be extended to those teachers of domestic science 
who fail to keep the ends in view, the material they are 
dealing with, the means at hand, the conditions and fluctu- 
ations, the proper selection of means and the proper appli- 
cation of means. 

Recipes. 

Broths and Soups. 

The first point to impress well upon the mind in mak- 
ing broths and soups is that good material must be used, 
and that the meat must be treated in such a manner as 
to extract the nutritious juices. This cannot be done by 
using hot or boiling water, which, incredible as it may 
seem to those who know better, is frequently done. Cold 
salted water must be used, and the meat should be al- 
lowed to soak in the water for several hours before it* 
subjected to heat. Even then it should only simmer 
(not exceeding 160 F.). At the last it may be boiled 
for one or two hours to dissolve the gelatin of the 
bones, etc., if they are used ; but this is not necessary, 
as chopped lean meat is preferable for nursery use, and 
a continued low temperature without boiling will pro- 



RECIPES 



xoi 



duce a very nutritious broth. The time for simmering 
may be regulated by the requirements of the household, 
the minimum time being two hours. If the broth is to 
be used the same day, it is well to have the meat 
delivered at an early hour, as this will allow ample 
time for the entire process before the hour of noon-day 
dinner, using ice for cooling and skimming, which 
must be carefully done. It is preferable, however, to 
have it made the day previous, as then every particle 
of fat can be removed. Fat plays a very important 
part in children's diet, but it is not to be served float- 
ing upon poorly made soups. The greatest care should 
be exercised in this direction. 

Chopped lean beef or mutton (from the neck prefer- 
ably), a half-pound daily, with one pint of water, 
different vegetable seasonings, with a little veal added 
to the broth occasionally, should give sufficient variety, 
with the addition of milk and chicken broths, for all 
requirements. Yet if, for any reason, it is desirable to 
have something different, there are many well-recom- 
mended recipes from which to select. For children 
over fourteen months of age, rice, tapioca, barley or 
sago may be added to beef or mutton broth, half a 
tablespoonful to the pint, but it must be thoroughly 
cooked. Different vegetables may be added later in 
the same way, to give variety for children over two 
and a half years old, spinach, celery, onions, and 
cauliflower being especially useful from a dietetic stand- 
point. Macaroni in its various forms may also be 



102 CHILDREN'S DIET 

used as an addition, and makes a pleasant change. If, 
in making broths, the measure given is reduced by 
cooking, add sufficient water to keep to its original 
quantity. When using parsley for seasoning, do not 
mince it in the usual way. Children will frequently 
object to it, and by using a bunch uncut the same 
result will be attained. This applies as well to celery, 
spinach, cauliflower, and onions. Children have been 
educated to eat these vegetables without any trouble 
beyond first introducing them into some favorite soup, 
not using too much at first, and having even that 
pressed through a puree sieve, gradually increasing 
the quantity until the taste is acquired. This is not 
always necessary, as in some instances the little ones 
take kindly to and enjoy them from the first. The 
suggestion is given for those mothers who find diffi- 
culty in getting children of three or four to eat juicy 
vegetables, which are an important adjunct to nursery 
fare. Dr. Yale says,* "The value of these vegetables 
is not so much from their nutritiousness, which is not 
very high, as because of the salts they contain, and be- 
cause they are palatable to many. By reason of the 
salts, they are useful as preventives of scurvy, a disease, 
however, not common in childhood, except when the 
diet has been particularly restricted. They should all 
be very thoroughly cooked, and if passed through a 
puree sieve will generally agree. But for some diges- 

* Nursery Problems. 



BROTHS AND SOUPS 103 

tions, the flatulent tendency of the onions and cauli- 
flower cannot be gotten rid of even in this way." 

Cooks should be instructed to save all the water in 
which these vegetables have been boiled (taking it 
for granted that they have previously been properly 
washed), as there is nothing more delicious to add to 
stock than these flavored waters. They can also be 
utilized in making milk broth, which is nutritious as 
well as stimulating. Many an adult who dislikes 
milk, hot or cold, would be surprised, were he to try 
it, to find how palatable a well-seasoned hot milk 
broth can be, and how quickly it drives away that 
tired feeling, which is the natural result of a busy 
day. 

In making broths or soups, use agate, porcelain, or 
earthenware \ tin utensils give a bitter taste. A close 
cover is also necessary, to prevent evaporation and to 
keep out the dust. 

The following recipe, given for a nutritious beef 
broth, will prove a comfort to busy mothers, as chil- 
dren rarely tire of it, and it can be made in quantity, 
keeping perfectly in a cool place. There is then very 
little labor connected with this portion of the dinner 
to be prepared daily, beyond changing the seasoning 
from day to day. Another point in its favor is that it 
may be taken from a cup or glass ; consequently the 
busy mother is free to attend to the remainder of the 
dinner, or to take a moment's rest while the little ones 
are enjoying their broth. Young children are generally 



! 04 CHILDREN'S DIE T 

better able to handle a cup or glass carefully than a 
spoon. These things may appear trifling to many, but 
a little rest is a priceless boon to a tired mother, who 
too often pays little attention to her own requirements 
in any direction. 

Beef Broth. — The materials needed are chopped 
lean beef, cold salted water, in the proportion of a 
pound of meat to a quart of water for children two and 
three years of age, and a pint of water and one large 
onion cut into pieces for children over three. Soak 
the meat, and onion, if used, in cold water for two 
hours at least (six is better) in the vessel in which it is 
to be cooked, keeping it on ice or in a cool place 
during this time. Then set it upon the back of the 
range, or, if it is to be made upon a gas, alcohol or 
oil stove, use a double boiler, and keep the heat mod- 
erate by regulating the flame, Keep the vessel cov- 
ered, and allow the broth to simmer, keeping up the 
original quantity of water for three hours at least. 
Let it cool overnight, remove the fat in the morning, 
and keep covered in a cool place until needed. If this 
is done, and the entire quantity is reheated to the 
boiling-point every time that some of it is used, it can 
be kept in winter for several days. 

The variety of seasoning should be considered when 
preparing the dinner for the general household, as labor 
is thus economized. For instance, if spinach is to be 
cooked for late dinner, a portion of it pressed through 
a puree sieve, with some of the water in which it was 



CHICKEN BROTH ! o 5 

boiled, should be saved for the children's broth next 
day, care being taken to have it put on ice in china, 
glass, or agate, closely covered. (Spinach, to be deli- 
cate, must be boiled rapidly in a large quantity of water. ) 
There will be no danger of the little ones growing tired 
of an endless succession of plain meat broths, if the veg- 
etables allowable are used in this way for variety. 

Alternate the above for children over .hree years of 
age with any of the following soups, as they may fill in 
with the general household cooking ; but it is advisable 
to have the beef broth on hand at all times, to be pro- 
vided for emergencies. 

Milk Soup. — Ingredients required : One pint of 
milk, one quart of boiling water, two onions, salt, a 
teaspoonful of butter, one heaping teaspoonful of flour. 

Boil the onions tender, and press through a puree 
sieve into the water in which they were boiled, using 
an agate saucepan, adding sufficient boiling water to 
make a quart. Season with salt, add the milk, rub the 
butter and flour together, and stir into the soup, bring- 
ing it to the boiling-point, stirring all the time. Serve 
hot, as a tepid milk soup is abominable. By the time 
the children are ready to take it the temperature will be 
about right. This soup may be varied in endless ways 
with the vegetable waters indicated above, or with veg- 
etables, chopped oysters, chicken jelly, etc. 

Chicken Broth. — Cut up a fowl (not a young 
chicken) into small pieces, rejecting the fat and skin 
unless the latter is white and tender, cover with cold 



1 06 CHILDREN' S DIE T 

water, and simmer gently for six hours. Cool over- 
night, and remove the fat. A four-pound chicken will 
make two quarts of broth. A little gelatin dissolved in 
every cupful is useful in cases of convalescence, espe- 
cially during digestive difficulties, and it may be used 
generally in the nursery. The broth may also be thick- 
ened with corn starch, flour, or arrowroot. 

Chicken milk is a particularly delicate preparation, 
and can be made readily from the above if the broth has 
jellied. If not, it must be further reduced. Put in a 
saucepan a stalk of white celery and a stalk (not cut) of 
parsely with a little salt, add a pint of the chicken jelly 
with some of the meat, and boil until it falls from the 
bones. Strain and add the same quantity of fresh milk, 
presupposing that the pint of chicken broth has been 
kept intact. Bring this to the boiling-point several 
times and strain into a cup. This is very nutritious, and 
forms a slight variety. (Trained Nurse.) 

Barley Broth. — Take the best end of a neck of 
mutton or lamb, cover with two quarts of cold water, 
and add a teacupful of crushed barley. Let it stand 
upon the back of a hot range for an hour, then move it 
forward, adding at this time the vegetables desired, cut 
into small pieces, and let it simmer for five hours. 

Cool overnight. Skim and season with salt. It is 
almost impossible to skim mutton broth thoroughly un- 
less it has stood overnight. Any one trying to do so 
will be easily convinced of the truth of this statement. 

Beef Juice. — Remove all fat and tissue from a half- 



MUTTON AND VEAL BROTH IO >j 

pound of lean beef; broil over a clear fire from six to 
eight minutes ; cut the meat into small pieces, and 
squeeze out the juice with a meat-press or lemon- 
squeezer. Add salt. When warming, put the juice 
into a cup and set it in hot water, that it may not coag- 
ulate, as it will do if heated in the ordinary manner. 

Beef Essence. — Put one pound of chopped lean 
beef, with a little salt, in a glass fruit-jar, and see that 
the cover is tight. Place it in the oven in a pan of 
water or in an ordinary steamer and cook four or five 
hours. Strain the essence through a very coarse strainer. 

Beef or Mutton Tea. — This recipe is adapted 
from Burnet, and is efficacious in cases of anaemia. One 
pound of chopped beef or one and one-half pounds of 
lean mutton (chopped) ; no gristle or fat ; ten drops 
of hydrochloric acid, and a pint of water. Put the 
beef and acid in the water, and keep it covered in a 
cool place for at least six hours, or overnight if possible. 
Simmer for two hours, strain, and salt. Remove all fat 
when cool. It may be used cold, or, if desired, it may 
be heated in a cup in warm water. 

Veal Broth. — Veal broth is nutritious, and is the 
only form in which to use veal in the nursery. Use one- 
half pound of minced lean veal to one pint of salted 
cold water. Let it stand four hours, then simmer slowly 
(it should not reach the boiling-point) for two hours, 
strain through a coarse sieve, and skim when cool. 

Mutton and Veal Broth. — Use one pound of 
meat, half mutton and half veal, to a pint of cold salted 



1 08 CHILDREN'S DIE T 

water, and proceed as above. Barley or rice may be 
added, a tablespoonful of either, well boiled. Milk 
thickened with flour is a pleasant addition to the above 
or to plain mutton broth. 

Chicken Broth. — Cut up a chicken, bones and all, 
into small pieces, put them over the fire in cold water, 
add a little salt, and simmer for six hours. Cool, remove 
the fat, and keep the jelly covered in a cool place. This 
yields a very strengthening soup, which may be made 
the base of many a delicate dish for children or in- 
valids, and is desirable for school luncheons. 

Chicken Custard. — Use chicken broth instead of 
milk, with beaten eggs, in the same manner as when 
making cup custard, seasoning with salt instead of sugar. 
Serve cold or warm, with or without thickened chicken 
broth. 

Burnet strongly advises the thickening of broths with 
arrowroot, boiled flour, etc. They may also be thick- 
ened with gelatin. Chicken broth is especially nice 
when done in this way. It should frequently be done 
for school children. 

Milk Soup. — One cupful of potatoes mashed and 
seasoned with salt. The yolk of two hard-boiled 
eggs, creamed with quarter of a cup of butter; one 
quart of milk brought just to boiling point, but not 
boiled. Stir into this one large tablespoonful of flour ; 
stir quickly to avoid lumps ; strain, and then serve in 
very hot, pretty little soup bowls for children's noonday 
dinner. 



SAVORY JELLY I09 

Oyster Broth. — Chop six fresh oysters and heat 
them in an agate saucepan, letting the liquor which ex- 
udes from the oysters come to a boil. Add a very little 
hot water, season, and serve after straining. This is 
very nice with buttered crackers. 

Clam Broth. — i. Put a few well-washed clams in a 
clean pan in a hot oven, or in a steamer over a hot fire. 
When they open, drain off the liquor and add an equal 
quantity of hot water. Season to taste and thicken with 
grated cracker, if desired, or serve plain with buttered 
crackers. 

2. Take about a half a dozen or more clams, save and 
add the juice, remove objectionable parts from the 
clams, and cut them in small pieces ; add half-pint of 
cold water, let them boil slowly for ten minutes, strain, 
and season with pepper and salt, and a little butter and 
milk if you like. 

Potato Soup. — Peel one dozen potatoes and one 
onion and cut them into small pieces. Cook them ten- 
der in a quart and pint of beef-stock, plain water, or 
vegetable water, and rub the potato through a puree 
sieve. Add salt and a half-pint of hot cream. Beat 
lightly, and serve with bits of zwieback or dry toasted 
bread broken into small bits into the soup plate. 

Savory Jelly. (Adapted from Burnet). — Take 
half a chicken, one pound of neck of veal, one pound 
of lean beef (from under the shoulder is the best part 
for beef tea, etc. ). Separate the joints of the chicken, 
then cut all the meat — beef, veal and chicken — into very 



no CHILDREN'S DIET 

small pieces ; put the whole into an earthen covered 
vessel with two quarts of water and enough salt to sea- 
son ; stew gently in the oven for five or six hours ; skim, 
strain, and keep cool. This is a very nutritious jelly. 

Roast Beef Gravy. — The thick brown essence in 
the pan, called ozmazome, should be dissolved in a little 
water after the fat has been poured off. It may then be 
thickened and seasoned in the usual manner. Gravy 
made from meats fried in fat in the ordinary way must 
not be used for children. 

A Home-Made Meat Powder.— Dr. W. R. 
Huggard {Muenchener Medicinische Woe hens ehrift) gives 
a convenient method of preparing a powder from meat 
to be used as a nutrient. Lean meat is cut into small 
pieces ; these are dipped into boiling fat for a few min- 
utes, until the surface is browned, then taken out and 
drained on a sieve. They are then cut into fine pieces 
and dried in an oven for twenty-four hours with a slow 
fire. The meat thereby becomes dry and brittle, and 
may be easily ground in a coffee mill. By this process 
of roasting it has lost four-fifths of its weight. This 
meat powder has a pleasant taste, and may be used in 
various ways, as in hot water, mixed with mashed po- 
tato, on bread and butter, as a sandwich, in soup, milk 
broths, etc. It is very easily digested, is tolerated by 
the most delicate stomach, and may be kept for a long 
time if dry and excluded from the air. 

Egg Custards Without Milk. — Ingredients re- 
quired. — Four eggs, two tablespoonfuls of sugar, the 



TAPIOCA WITH CHICKEN OR MEAT JEIL Y m 

juice of an orange or a lemon, or a teaspoon ful of 
vanilla. 

Beat the yolks well with the sugar, and pour them 
into a double boiler. Stir over the fire until the mix- 
ture thickens, then add the flavoring and the whites of 
the eggs, which should have been previously beaten to 
a froth. Stir a few minutes longer, and pour into a 
mould and cool. These custards may be made also 
with salt, meat juice, celery or chicken broth, for a 
pleasant variation. Inasmuch as there is always great 
demand for new dishes that are not sweet, it may be 
well to remember that this plan may be followed with 
tapioca, sago, rice, and many other farinaceous foods 
that are generally used in sweet pudding if used at all. 
It requires very little originality to make a palatable and 
wholesome dish of any of the above-mentioned articles 
without following the stereotyped plan of sweetening 
and flavoring. The following recipe is an illustration 
of this method : 

Tapioca with Chicken or Meat Jelly. — Wash 
one-half cup of tapioca, and put it into a double boiler 
with one-half cup of cold water. Let it absorb the 
water, then add a pint of chicken broth, milk jelly, or 
any meat infusion, and cook until the tapioca is soft and 
clear. Season with salt, and mould. Serve hot or 
cold as preferred. For another change, a well-beaten 
egg may be stirred into the tapioca when it is taken 
from the fire. These moulds are very appetizing when 
served with a little of the same broth or essence that 



! j 2 CHILDREN 1 S DIE T 

has been used in making the jelly, if thickened and 
daintily seasoned. 

A Recipe for Invalids Direct from Dr. S, 
Weir Mitchell.— For about a pint of good, rich 
milk, take one good, fresh egg (if you can get it) ; 
while the milk is heating to the boiling point heat the 
egg in a good-sized bowl very lightly (yolk and white 
together) ; pour the boiling milk into the egg, stirring 
all the time to insure a smooth custard ; add a bit of 
salt, with sugar and nutmeg and brandy, if you like it 
and need it. The milk is said in this way to cook the egg 
just enough to render it digestible. We have known 
and used this recipe in oft-repeated sickness, as well as 
in health, and can testify to its worth. — Public Ledger. 

A Savory Breakfast Custard. — Fill a custard cup 
lightly with bread crumbs, and, if convenient, add a 
little minced chicken. It is equally good without. 
Beat an egg, add a little meat, season, and pour the 
mixture into the cup over the crumbs. Bake in the 
oven in a pan of hot water for but a few minutes, as 
eggs must be but lightly cooked to be digestible. 

Poached Eggs. — To poach eggs, drop them in 
steaming water that has just stopped boiling, having 
added sufficient salt to taste before putting the water on 
to boil. Set the water containing the eggs back upon 
the stove. From five to eight minutes will cook them 
sufficiently. Eggs poached in this way and served on 
toast are further improved by the addition of chicken 
broth slightly thickened. 



CEREALS n 3 



Cereals, 



The following cereals are all suitable for nursery use : 
granulated or crushed wheat, which is an all-year-round 
food, possessing no fat, and requiring cream to make it 
a perfect winter food ; cornmeal, a winter food, which 
builds up strong tissues and is useful in constipation \ 
purified or cooked gluten, the latter of which is always 
ready for use \ oat flour, from which a delicious blanc- 
mange can be made \ crushed barley, which, when prop- 
erly cooked in milk or water, is an easily digested nurs- 
ery food, and when mixed with gluten, half and half, 
stirred into cold water, and afterwards well cooked, is 
extremely palatable ; farina, which, when subjected to 
high heat in preparation, becomes a desirable and nu- 
tritious food, used either as a gruel, a porridge, or in 
desserts. 

The list of cereal preparations to be found for sale is 
endless, but one need not go far to find a few perfectly 
prepared foods of this class that are assimilable when 
properly cooked, and which will supply the needs of 
growing children in variety as well as in constituents. 
Being heat-producers, they should be used carefully in 
warm weather; white hominy, rice, gluten, barley, rye 
and wheat preparations are the most desirable, as they 
possess little or no fat. 

Oatmeal Gruel. — Four tablespoonfuls of rolled 
oats, one-half teaspoonful of salt, one teaspoonful of 
sugar (if directed by the physician), two cupfuls of 

8 



1 1 4 CHILDREN' S DIE T 

boiling water, two cupfuls of hot milk (or four cupfuls 
of water and no milk). Pour the boiling water on the 
oatmeal, salt and sugar, if used, and cook in a double 
boiler for three hours, or cook in an agate saucepan for 
one hour, stirring frequently, if a saucepan is used, and 
adding water to the original quantity. Strain to re- 
move the hulls, and add the hot milk, bringing all to 
the boiling point. If no milk is used, add all the water 
in the beginning. 

Two tablespoonfuls of oatmeal and two of Graham 
flour, with salt, a pint of water, and a quart of milk, 
make a pleasant change in gruels. Cook the water, 
salt and meal, for one hour in a double boiler or steamer ; 
then add a quart of milk, and scald or steam, according 
to the vessel used, for a few minutes only. Strain and 
keep cool. 

If gruels are to be malted they need not be cooked 
so long as for ordinary use. One hour in a double 
boiler, or half an hour in a saucepan, is sufficient. 

Barley Gruel may be made in the same way as 
oatmeal gruel, using barley that has been ground fine 
in a coffee -mill. 

Farina Gruel is made in the proportion of two 
tablespoonfuls of farina to two cupfuls of water and 
two of milk, with salt to season ; but it does not need 
long cooking, as it is partly prepared. Half an hour is 
enough for the whole process. 

Cream Gruel. — For cream gruel take two-thirds of 
a pint of milk and one-third of real cream ; the milk 



MALTED GRUEL 



"5 



must be new ; boil these together. If cream will not 
stand the test of scaldling it is not fit for use \ rub a 
tablespoonful of sifted flour to a smooth paste in a little 
cold milk, stir in, and let boil two or three minutes. 
Add a mite of salt, with sugar and wine, or brandy, if 
desired. 

Browned Flour Gruel. — This can be made by 
same rule as the above, leaving out cream, though it is 
better with it. To brown the flour, take a clean cast- 
iron pan, as it is thicker and less liable to burn than the 
ordinary pan, put in about a pint of sifted wheat flour, 
or less, if you are not used to the work • begin stirring 
with an old spoon as soon as it is hot, and continue 
slowly, being careful to have it a nice chestnut brown 
when done. This can be bottled and kept for weeks. 
Use as much as will make it as thick as ordinary gruel. 
The best medical authorities recommend it highly for 
nutrition and digestion, being especially useful in sum- 
mer diseases of stomach and bowels. 

Arrowroot Gruel. — One tablespoonful of arrow- 
root, one-half teaspoonful of salt, one cupful of milk. 
Wet the arrowroot with a little cold water, add a cupful 
of boiling water, and boil ten minutes ; then add the 
milk and bring again to the boiling point. Strain and 
keep cool. 

Malted Gruel. (Adapted from Thompson. ) — 
Gruel should be well boiled and kept free from lumps, 
using a strainer if necessary. When cool enough to 
swallow, add a tablespoonful of malt extract to a pint 



I ! 6 CHILDREN' S DIE T 

of gruel. In a few minutes the gruel will become thin 
from the conversion of the starch into maltose. All 
farinaceous foods can be treated in this way. 

Oatmeal Porridge. — Three tablespoonfuls of 
rolled, ground or crushed oats, one pint of boiling 
water, one-quarter teaspoonful of salt. Steam for two 
hours or longer in a double boiler. 

Oatmeal porridge is very appetizing when served 
cold in mould shapes, and it will frequently be eaten 
in this way when it would be refused if served in any 
other form. Variations may be made by using farina, 
cracked wheat, browned rice (browned in the oven be- 
fore steaming and moulding), hominy, arrowroot, etc., 
giving further change for older children by serving oc- 
casionally with fruit juice instead of cream or milk. 

Wheat Porridge requires two tablespoonfuls of 
wheat to a pint of salted water, and it should be thor- 
oughly boiled or steamed in a double boiler, two hours 
being the shortest time to be allowed for the cooking of 
any porridge. 

Hominy requires the same proportions, and should 
be cooked for the same length of time. 

Cornmeal Mush (to be used warm or moulded, 
for supper or breakfast, with milk or a little good 
syrup) should be cooked very carefully in a double 
boiler or steamer for the time given for the cooking of 
all cereal porridges, and it should be free from lumps 
when done, A very good plan to follow when cooking 
cornmeal or bran mush is to sprinkle the meal into 



OAT JELLY II7 

« 

a saucepan of boiling water from a fine sifter, stirring 
all the time, before putting it into the steamer, as free- 
dom from lumps depends upon the even admixture of 
the water and the meal. 

Farina Porridge requires three tablespoonfuls of 
farina to a pint of hot salted water, and should be 
cooked at least an hour in the steamer or double boiler. 

Oatmeal Blancmange. — Put one pint of water 
and half a teaspoonful of salt into the upper part of a 
double boiler, and, when the water begins to boil, 
sprinkle into it a scant teacupful of rolled oats ; let 
boil briskly for two or three minutes, and then let it 
steam for five or six hours. Strain through a fine soup 
strainer, leaving all the husks behind ; then stir into it 
one-half a pint of scalded milk. Add white sugar to 
taste, stir over the fire for a few minutes, flavor with 
vanilla extract, put into cold, wet moulds, and set on 
the ice or a very cold place to harden. Serve with 
cream. Two whipped eggs can be added if desired 
before turning the mixture into the moulds. 

This is a very nice pudding to give to an invalid. 

Oat Jelly. (Rotch.) — Four ounces of coarse oat- 
meal are allowed to soak in a quart of cold water for 
twelve hours. The mixture is then boiled down so as 
to make a pint, and is strained through a fine cloth 
while it is hot. When it cools a jelly is formed, which 
is to kept on ice until needed. Different proportions 
of this jelly can be used, but usually it is best to begin 
with equal parts of jelly and cow's milk. When 



I x 8 CHILDREN' S DIE T 

needed, this mixture is warmed and a little salt is 
added. 

Muffins, Bread, etc. 

Cream Muffins. — To make one dozen, beat up 
one egg very light \ mix it with four tablespoonfuls of 
rich sweet cream, a little salt, and a scant half-cupful 
of milk. Sift in slowly one and a quarter cupfuls of 
whole-meal flour and two teaspoonfuls of a well -selected 
baking-powder. Bake in a very quick oven (about 
fifteen minutes should suffice), putting very little batter 
into each muffin -pan, that the muffins may puff up and 
be nearly all crust, as they should undoubtedly be for 
the children's table. 

Graham and Cornmeal Muffins may be made 
in the same way, using Graham or corn flour in the 
place of whole-meal flour. 

Cornmeal Muffins are delicious when made with 
half cornmeal and half hominy (breakfast hominy, well 
cooked). Stir a teaspoonful of sweet butter into three- 
quarters of a cup of hot hominy ; add the egg f salt, 
cream and milk ; then stir in three-quarters of a cupful of 
corn flour and the baking-powder, and bake as directed 
above, remembering to keep the mixture of a consist- 
ency to pour easily, as in this way the muffins will be 
light and crusty, instead of heavy and indigestible. 

Cornmeal Mush. — Cornmeal is not used nearly as 
much as it should be in the homes where there are young 
children. It is very wholesome for any one, young 



BREAD n 9 

or old ; and children often like it at breakfast, with 
cream. 

To make cornmeal mush, take a pint of cornmeal 
mixed with a pint of milk and a teaspoonful of salt ; 
put this into nearly a quart of boiling water, let it boil 
half an hour or longer, stirring often. Cook in a 
double boiler or a boiler with a copper bottom. 

Bread. — Well-made home-made bread is infinitely 
preferable to ordinary baker's bread. It should be at 
least one day old, and should be thoroughly baked. 

The gluten advised above absorbs more water than 
ordinary starchy flours, and needs less yeast. Brewer's 
yeast, which gives a good flavor on account of the 
hops used, or good home-made yeast, is not undesir- 
able, but in these busy days no one need hesitate to 
save time and trouble by using the commercial com- 
pressed yeast of deservedly good repute, as it answers 
every purpose. Heated milk may be used for mixing 
instead of water, if preferred, but a very good bread 
may be made very easily, as follows, according to a 
recipe given by a cook who learned her art in Ireland. 
Her method reverses the usual directions in regard to 
the temperature of the oven, which, judging from the 
delicious results, is a very sensible procedure. The 
ease with which the bread is made will commend it to 
the busy housewife. Begin in the morning : 

Flour, three quarts, sifted in a large bowl \ 

Salt, two heaping tablespoonfuls \ 

Sugar, four heaping tablespoonfuls ; 



1 2 o CHILDREN' S DIE T 

Water, or milk and water, two quarts, lukewarm ; 

Yeast, one cake ; 

Lard, three heaping tablespoonfuls. 

Put the salt, sugar and lard into the flour, and rub 
the lard fine by crumbling it lightly between the hands. 
Use warmed flour, especially in winter. Flour should 
always be warm, for best results in baking. A good 
plan is to keep constantly on hand near the fire a bag 
or covered pan of well-dried flour for bread, cake, or 
biscuit. Dissolve the yeast in the warm water, and 
pour it over the flour, mixing with the hands ; then 
sift in gradually a quart or more of flour, adding until 
the dough can be turned out on the board. Knead 
lightly from ten to fifteen minutes, adding flour until 
the loaf does not stick to the board. Put it back in 
the bowl, cover lightly, and let it rise in a temperature 
of about 75 F. for three hours. Cut into loaves and 
put into buttered pans, letting them rise on the rack 
above the range, or in a place of equal temperature, for 
half an hour, when they will be ready to be placed in a 
moderately quick, oven. After half an hour, as the 
bread rises in the oven, increase the heat slowly to the 
end of the time required to bake the loaves. The time 
to be allowed for baking an average-sized loaf is one 
and a quarter hours. The usual plan in baking bread 
is to begin with a temperature of 400° F., gradually 
lowering to 250 F., with the frequent result of a loaf 
of bread that is soggy in the inside and very hard on 
the outside. In the above method the reverse is the 



BREAD 



121 



case. The result should be dry, well-baked, evenly 
browned loaves of bread, that still retain enough moist- 
ure to keep them as they should be. 

The use of bread made from the whole grain meal 
should be encouraged for children, for the following 
reasons : they must be restricted in a meat diet, there- 
fore such bread supplies a much-needed addition ; it 
contains forty instead of twenty per cent, of gluten, 
and contains twice as large a proportion of certain salts 
— chiefly phosphates — as white bread ; it contains also 
the laxative fatty matter upon which great dependence 
is placed when arranging a dietary for children. 

Points to remember in buying flour and baking bread 
are that a good bread flour does not cake in the hand 
when squeezed, that kneading must be done lightly, to 
keep the bread porous, and that the temperature for 
the rising of the sponge should be from 70 ° to 80 ° F., 
not higher. 

The use of bread may begin in the nursery as early 
as twelve months, if a sufficient number of teeth are 
present, which should be the case at this age. Dr. 
Rotch says, " Good butter on the bread may usually be 
allowed at sixteen months." 

In some form, at the ages indicated, bread or biscuit 
should be given at each meal, — i.e., stale bread or crust 
of French bread, zwieback, toast, and Graham bread, 
or soda, oatmeal, Graham, gluten, or educator biscuit. 
These are all permissible when they can be chewed 
thoroughly. Oatmeal and Graham biscuit belong to 



1 2 2 CHILDREN' S DIE T 

laxative foods, and should be used accordingly. Jerome 
Walker, M.D., pertinently says, in regard to this sub- 
ject,* that "probably, with the exception of candy, 
no article that is eaten is so much abused as the animal- 
cracker. Before these crackers were introduced children 
were content with a few butter, soda, milk, or even or- 
dinary sweet crackers at one time, but now the child is 
anxious to eat a number of animals. The cracker-maker, 
detecting this propensity in children, furnishes a won- 
derful assortment of animals, and the child is eager to 
eat one, at least, of each kind purchased. The mother 
thinks these animals are so nice for the children to play 
with that frequently she sends out for a half-pound or a 
pound, and she often gives all to the child to keep him 
quiet as he is trundled along in his carriage. What is the 
consequence of so much sugar and starch ? It perverts 
the appetite, teaches the child to reject soups, broths, 
bread and butter, and milk, and to prefer sweets and 
pastries, and also induces starchy dyspepsia. ' ' 

The use of zwieback (twice-baked bread) can be 
thoroughly recommended. It possesses the advantage 
of being more easily digested than ordinary bread on 
account of the complete conversion of the starch into 
dextrine as the result of the double baking. 

The following recipe may be used for zwieback, for 
a change from that made from ordinary home-made 
bread : 

* Babyhood. 



MORA VI AN CAKE I2 $ 

Moravian Cake. — This is best when started in the 
morning, unless the last rising can be attended to very 
early in the morning. If this can he done, set the 
sponge about five o'clock in the evening, using one cup 
of potatoes mashed in one cup of the water in which 
they were boiled, one cup of sugar, one-half cake of 
yeast dissolved in a little warm water, with flour enough 
to make a thick batter. Cover and keep in a warm place 
(about 80 ° F. ) ; beat occasionally during the evening, 
and at ten or eleven o'clock mix in the batter one cup 
of sugar, three eggs, and three-quarters of a cup of lard 
and butter, a pinch of cinnamon, and enough flour to 
stiffen, kneading it well into a dough that will not stick 
to the sides of the bowl. Leave it well covered, in a 
temperature of 70 to 75 F., until early in the morn- 
ing, shape into loaves or any form desired, let rise for 
half an hour, spread the cake with a sauce made of a cup 
of sugar, one tablespoonful of hot water, a small piece 
of butter, and enough cinnamon to darken the sauce, 
and bake in a moderate oven. 

The above may be used as sweet bread, cake or toast. 
By cutting it into thin slices, buttering it lightly, and 
browning delicately in the oven, you have a delicious 
change for the frequently stereotyped nursery menu. 

A word of caution should be heeded when making 
toast. It should be done in such a manner as to dry it 
thoroughly in the middle before browning takes place. 
Soggy, quickly made toast is decidedly not allowable in 
the nursery. 



! 24 CHILDREN' S DIET 

A simple sponge or tea cake may be used occasionally, 
when given with moderation to children over five, either 
in the form of lady-fingers, or as the ordinary sponge or 
tea cake made by the average cook. It must be well 
baked, not fresh, and should be just as light and porous 
as good bread should be, not notably moist, nor rich, 
nor full of fruit. 

Meats. — The best portions of beef for nursery use 
are from the loin for broiling, and from the neck, rump, 
or first and second cut of the round for other uses, which 
will be indicated. This selection is independent of 
joints for roasting or boiling. Either a sirloin, porter- 
house, or tenderloin steak is most suitable for broiling, 
and it should be cut from one to two inches thick — two 
inches is better — to keep the meat juicy. Trim off the 
fat, wipe with a clean damp cloth, placed in a heated 
wire broiler which has been greased to prevent sticking, 
and hold directly over a glowing bed of coals. A live 
fire is necessary, not one that has begun to cool. The 
steak should be turned five or six times during the first 
minute, that the outer sealing, may be quickly done ; 
then the broiler must be held farther away, and the 
meat finished more slowly, turning at this stage once 
every half miuute until the meat is done. It should be 
pink and juicy inside, but not raw. Seven to ten min- 
utes over a good fire will usually cook to perfection a 
steak from an inch and a half to two inches thick. Have 
the plate upon which it is to be served warm (not hot), 
season the meat with salt, and use care in handling it 



MEATS I25 

that the surface may not be broken and the juice lost. 
For nursery use, salt is the only condiment allowable. 
Never use melted butter on the meat ; all the butter re- 
quired by children should be taken as cold as possible 
upon the bread that is eaten, not upon meat or vege- 
tables (except in cream sauce, as indicated elsewhere), 
if freedom from indigestion is desired. When broiling 
thin steaks, or a tenderloin which may not be very juicy 
or of good flavor, it is a good plan to lay a thin piece of 
round steak upon both sides of the tenderloin before broil- 
ing, and thus get a delicious steak, discarding the outer 
pieces, the juice of which has entered the middle steak. 
Cooked scraped beef makes an acceptable change, or 
raw, when allowed by the family physician, and it may be 
used at an earlier age than meat is usually given. Use 
a thick cut from the tender part of the round or rump, 
scrape off the pulp with a silver knife, rejecting the 
tough fibre, and mould it into cakes about an inch thick ; 
then broil on an oyster broiler as you would an ordinary 
steak. When for any reason it is inconvenient or im- 
possible to broil a steak or scraped meat, heat thoroughly 
a thick iron or steel pan, sprinkle salt over it to prevent 
sticking, and cook the meat in the same manner as if 
using a solid broiler, turning with a knife or spoon, not 
a fork, that no juice may escape. Turn quickly at first 
and have the pan scorching hot, then moderate the heat, 
and finish more slowly. Very good results may be ob- 
tained in this way. Do not put fat into the pan, as is 
so frequently done. 



1 2 6 CHILDREN'S DIE T 

The above directions apply as well to the broiling or 
panning of lamb- and mutton-chops, which should be 
cuf thick and be well trimmed. It requires from four to 
six minutes to cook a chop one inch thick. 

Boiled Meats. — When boiled meat is desired, use 
water that is boiling rapidly to seal the meat, as one of 
the first results of putting meat into water that does not 
boil is that some of the valuable ingredients of the meat 
pass into the water. By having the water boiling rap- 
idly this is prevented, and by continuing the boiling for 
five minutes the meat has a protective covering formed 
about it that keeps it juicy and nutritious. It should 
then be cooked at a considerably lower temperature, 
about 160 F. It may be a little higher, but should not 
be much less. This method applies to boiling poultry 
whole, as well as to beef, lamb, or mutton. When boil- 
ing beef, allow from twenty to forty minutes to the pound, 
according to the quality of the beef. For a boiled leg 
of lamb or mutton, allow fifteen minutes to the pound. 

Meat Stews. — A dainty and wholesome little meat 
stew may be made for the nursery as follows : Cut a 
tender piece of beef, lamb or mutton into small squares, 
rejecting all fat ; just cover it with boiling water and 
allow it to simmer until very tender, adding in the be- 
ginning either a bit of onion, a sprig of parsely, a stalk 
of celery, a few leaves of spinach, or a few small pieces 
of cauliflower, for flavoring, and add a very few small 
squares of potato ; season with salt when nearly done. 
If the child for whom this is prepared likes the vege- 



S WEE TB READS I 2 7 

tables mentioned, and is old enough, they may simply 
be cut into small pieces ; if not, they should be pressed, 
when tender, through a puree sieve. Zwieback, broken 
into small pieces (mere crumbs), is a very nice addition 
to either a stew of this description or to the broths 
which frequently take the place of meat for very young 
children just beginning on a mixed diet. A stew of 
this character, a dish of spaghetti, good bread and butter, 
and some light dessert, like cup custard, will make a sat- 
isfactory dinner menu for a four- year-old. The stew in 
this menu supplies the salt-giving food required. 

Roast Beef. — Roast beef, when used for children, 
should be rare and lean, with dish gravy from which all 
fat has been removed. If best results are desired, when 
roasting either beef, mutton, or fowl, see that the oven 
is very hot to begin with, cooling it slightly after the 
sealing of the surface has been done ; then baste care- 
fully, or use a double pan, allowing fifteen minutes to a 
pound for rare meats, twenty for well done. 

Sweetbreads. — Genuine sweetbreads are allowable 
in the nursery as well as in invalid dietaries, as they are 
readily digested. They are not considered very nutri- 
tious. They must be prepared in a manner suitable for 
children. As soon as they come from the market they 
should be cleaned and parboiled. To clean, cut off all 
fat, bruised parts, etc. , and wash quickly in cold water ; 
boil in a granite saucepan from fifteen to twenty minutes, 
using boiling salted water at first ; then cool and put 
away until needed. To complete cooking them for 



! 2 8 CHILDREN' 1 S DIE T 

children, cut them into small squares and stew them 
carefully in a sauce prepared as follows : Rub a teaspoon- 
ful of good butter into a tablespoonful of flour, using 
one cup of milk or cream ; heat the milk in a double 
boiler, add the thickening (stirring it in carefully), the 
sweetbreads, and a little salt. Stir continuously until 
both sauce and sweetbreads are cooked, which will be in 
about fifteen minutes, — in ten if made in a single sauce- 
pan. The double one is preferable, as it prevents scorch- 
ing. Any sauce containing milk and flour should be 
made in a double boiler or in a saucepan fitted into the 
top of a tea-kettle. Care must be taken to cook the 
sweetbreads the required time only, as longer cooking 
is likely to harden them. French peas, if tender, may 
be used with these for children over four when digestion 
is normal. A little beef broth, sweetbreads, either pre- 
pared as above or broiled, with peas or stewed celery, 
bread and butter, boiled rice, and a simple dessert, would 
be a satisfactory menu for the age mentioned, and with 
the exception of the peas, perhaps, it might be given at 
three and a half, under average conditions. 

Eggs. — Eggs are a desirable substitute for meat at 
any time, and as an article of diet, when properly cooked, 
give concentrated nutriment. They may be prepared 
in a variety of ways, with or without the addition of 
other foods, but for nursery use the plain boiled egg is 
most desirable. Care must be taken to have them per- 
fectly fresh, as it is of great importance that stale eggs 
should not be used. A fresh egg will sink in salt water 



EGGS 



12 



(one tablespoonful of salt to ten of water) and in pro- 
portion to its age it approaches the surface. Every 
woman thinks she can cook an egg, no matter how un- 
skilled she may be in other branches of cooking, yet it 
is perhaps the least understood of all processes of mak- 
ing foods digestible by proper treatment. The usual 
method is to drop the egg in boiling water, which is 
allowed to continue boiling for two, three or four min- 
utes, according to the taste of the consumer. The re- 
sult is either an almost raw egg or one with a hard white 
and uncooked yellow, and, generally speaking, the 
whole egg, when cooked in this way, is tough and indi- 
gestible, unless it is eaten almost raw. Sufficient boil- 
ing water (about a quart) should be set aside for a few 
moments, when it will be of the temperature required. 
It should then be poured over several eggs in a good- 
sized saucepan, which should be covered and set back 
upon the range from eight to twelve minutes, according 
to whether they are liked very soft or not. These eggs 
are milky-looking, soft, cooked all the way through, and 
are easily digested. Dr. Thompson gives an excellent 
way for cooking eggs, as suggested by Henry. * Immerse 
a teacup in boiling water until it becomes thoroughly 
heated. It is then removed, and the egg is broken and 
dropped into it, and the cup may be wrapped in a cloth. 
Sufficient heat is retained by it to cook the egg without 
water and to remove any raw taste. 

The white of egg, when eaten raw, diluted with water 

* W. Gilman Thompson, M.D., Practical Dietetics. 

9 



1 30 CHILDREN' S DIE T 

or milk, is easily absorbed, and is a valuable food in 
gastric disorders. 

Fish. — Fish, if fresh and of the right kind, is an ex- 
cellent food for the nursery. It is of great nutritive 
value, and is less stimulating than meat. Being digested 
more rapidly, it is necessary to consider this when esti- 
mating quantities for a child's dinner. A larger por- 
tion should be served than would be given if meat were 
used. Broths should always be used after four years to 
supplement a child's dinner when fish is given instead 
of meat. Children who are unable to take much active 
exercise should have fish and broths more frequently than 
meat, as fish is especially indicated for persons of sed- 
entary habits. 

Fish should be scaled and cleaned as soon as they 
come from market, washed quickly, and put in a cool 
place, not on ice, but near it, if possible. The white- 
fleshed fish are the only kind to be considered in this 
connection, and the flesh should be firm and hard. If 
it is flabby, it is unfit for use for child or adult. The 
German method of selling fish alive might well be in- 
troduced in this country. 

For nursery use it may be boiled, creamed, baked, or 
broiled, never fried. It should be served plain, or with 
a sauce made of cream or milk as directed for sweet- 
breads. The well-beaten yolk of an egg may be added 
to this sauce after removing from the fire. 

To cream fish it must be flaked, the bones removed 
very carefully, and then boiled gently for twenty min- 



SQUABS, CHICKEN, ETC. 131 

utes, seasoned with salt, and added to the cream sauce 
mentioned. 

For broiling, turn the flesh side to the fire first, then 
the skin, taking care not to scorch the latter, which is 
very quickly done if care is not taken. 

Oysters. — The soft part of oysters may be freely used 
in the nursery for children over three years of age. 
They are very nutritious, and are greatly desired as an 
appetizer and for variety. The soft part is easily di- 
gested, and may be given raw to any child who takes 
meat and broths. The juice may be given earlier, in 
small quantity, but it is a frequent occurrence for a 
child under five to refuse to eat oysters offered in any 
way. They are a very acceptable addition to an ordi- 
nary milk soup when chopped fine, after the hard part 
has been removed. Care must be exercised as to sea- 
son ; they are frequently placed upon the market before 
they are in good condition, and just as frequently they 
are kept for sale longer than is desirable. The season 
is supposed to be from September to April, but it is safer, 
for children, to consider it from October to March, un- 
less cold weather has come early or continues exception- 
ally late. 

Squabs, Chicken, etc. — Squabs, partridge, pheas- 
ant, chicken and turkey may be used alternately with 
beef and mutton for dinner menus, after three years. 
Squabs and chickens should be stewed or broiled, and 
the most tender parts selected for young children \ the 
white meat of roast chicken or turkey may be given if 



z 3 2 CHILDREN ' S DIE T 

minced fine. Partridge and pheasant should be broiled 
and the breast used in the same way. 



The Use of Vegetables in the Nursery. 

Spinach. — Spinach, which is a wholesome vegeta- 
ble when properly cooked, acts as a useful aperient, 
and is frequently prescribed for habitual constipation. 
It should be well cleaned, cooked in an abundance of 
salted boiling water, and for young children pressed 
through a puree sieve. It may be served with or with- 
out a little cream. When prepared in this manner it 
will produce no irritation, and is a vegetable that may 
be used frequently in nursery menus, in broths or alone. 
It may be used for children two and a half years old. 

Onions.— -The onion is valuable in several ways. It 
adds flavor to foods, and is slightly laxative. The French 
consider a puree of onions a great restorative in debility 
of digestion. Either the Spanish or Bermuda onion is 
preferable for the nursery. It should be boiled tender 
in stock or water and served with cream sauce, or baked, 
wrapped in a buttered paper, in a moderately heated 
oven. When made into a puree it is a satisfactory addi- 
tion to a dinner consisting partly of starchy foods, like 
rice or potatoes, supplying the fat necessary for these 
vegetables in the butter added to the milk or cream in 
the sauce to be used with the puree. As onions belong 
to the variety of vegetables that contain little starch or 
sugar, a sweet dessert, like wine jelly, should be used 



STEWED CELERY I33 

with any menu calling for this vegetable. They may 
be used with care for children over three, watching for 
individual idiosyncrasies. 

Celery. — Celery is both wholesome and digestible if 
in good condition. It may be eaten uncooked; by chil- 
dren over six, in very small quantities, as a single tender 
slip at dinner, and this well scraped, unless from the 
heart of the stalk. The outer stalks should all be scraped, 
to free them from the indigestible covering of cellulose, 
or woody portion, which is harmful for even an adult. 
For general use in the nursery it should be stewed. Care 
should be taken to use the water also in which the celery 
has been boiled. This may be done by giving it as a 
broth, or by using it in making the sauce to serve with 
the celery. 

Stewed Celery. — Cut off the tops of a bunch of 
celery, putting aside some of the tender and perfectly 
fresh portions for use for the general household. Cut 
the stalks into small pieces, first scraping them well. 
Boil quite tender in salted boiling water, just enough to 
cover the celery. It will take from twenty-five to thirty - 
five minutes over a quick fire. Serve plain, or with the 
usual cream sauce, made, however, from half celery 
water and half milk instead of all milk. Experience 
will show that the tops usually require a longer time to 
cook than the stalks. For nursery diet the tender por- 
tions also should be used. The addition of a white 
stock would make a pleasant change, especially if 
made of chicken, veal stock being not quite so desir- 



I3 4 CHILDREN' S DIET 

able for the nursery. Allowable at two and a half years 
of age. 

Cauliflower. — This vegetable is both delicate and 
digestible, and a tablespoonful may be eaten for dinner 
by a child over three years of age. It should be taken 
plain or with cream sauce, not with melted butter, 
which is never to be allowed on the nursery table. It 
is very nice when cut in pieces and stewed tender in 
beef stock or in chicken broth. Its preparatory cleans- 
ing must be very carefully done, a preliminary soaking, 
head down, being the first step. 

Carrots. — If very young and tender, they may be 
used very carefully for a child over five. Cook them soft 
enough to press through a puree sieve, and serve a small 
quantity in broth or seasoned with hot cream and salt. 
They may also be tried, but cautiously, when cut in 
very small squares, served plain or not, as preferred. 

Peas and Beans. — Dried peas may be used for 
children three to four years old if first soaked for twenty- 
four hours, cooked very soft, and pressed through a 
puree sieve. Fresh peas, if picked the day they are to be 
used, may be added to the dietary of a child of two and 
one-half years, but they should be very young and ten- 
der. They must be cooked rapidly from ten to twenty 
minutes in boiling salted water — just enough to keep 
them from burning — an a closed granite saucepan ; re- 
membering that for all vegetable cooking, in fact for all 
cooking in the nursery, porcelain or granite utensils 
should be used invariably. 



TOMATOES 



*35 



Very young beans, or a puree of dried beans, may be 
tried cautiously for children over three. For best re- 
sults both peas and beans, when fresh, should be cooked 
as soon as possible after picking. The use of these 
vegetables must be watched closely for indications point- 
ng to assimilation or non-assimilation. It must not 
be overlooked that they supply a moderate amount of 
proteids, hence less meat should be used with a menu 
containing either peas or beans. A practical method 
for trying a new vegetable is to reserve its use for a time 
when the child is in perfect condition, digesting its food 
easily, and when the menu contains nothing but food 
that has been tried and found to agree. The chances 
are, then, that if any trouble arises it may be traced to 
the exact cause. Caution should always be the watch- 
word in the nursery. 

Asparagus. — Asparagus possesses diuretic proper- 
ties, and is a vegetable strongly recommended for nur- 
sery use, especially when in season. For children, only 
the tips should be used, cooking them tender in boiling 
salted water, and serving either plain or with cream 
sauce. They may be used for children two and a half 
years old. 

Tomatoes. — Tomatoes are not to be eaten when 
milk is in the dietary. If given at all, it should be 
after a child has reached five years. They should be 
cooked slowly for several hours in a porcelain or agate 
vessel, strained, and thickened with a little barley, wheat, 
or rice flour, or a few grated bread crumbs or grated 



1 36 CHILDREN' S DIE T 

crackers. Season, when preparing, with sugar, salt, and 
a teaspoonful of onion juice. Raw tomatoes must be 
used very cautiously, and not until a child is five years 
old. The seeds and skin should be discarded, and the 
tomato should be fresh-picked and just ripe. An under- 
or over-ripe tomato is dangerous food. Tomato jelly 
may be tried for children over three if made from 
strained cooked tomatoes and gelatin, the latter to be 
used in the usual way. 

Beets. — Beet root is a valuable vegetable, an appe- 
tizer, and belongs to the class containing sugar. This 
knowledge is of importance in selecting menus that 
should contain the proportionate amount of the neces- 
sary constituents. It is not indigestible unless tough 
and stringy. Very young beets may be cooked tender 
in boiling salted water in less than an hour. Care must 
be taken to wash the root without bruising it, and to 
cut off the top at least an inch from the beet, as this 
will prevent the loss of the juice that is desirable. Serve 
plain, cut in dainty squares or slices. They may be 
added to the diet of a child five years old, with caution 
and moderation. 

Apple Sauce. — This really comes under fruits, but 
it may be given at dinner in place of a vegetable at 
those seasons of the year when young fresh vegetables 
are difficult to find. It should be prepared very care- 
fully. As quickly as the apples are pared and cored 
they should be dropped into cold water, to prevent dis- 
coloration. When ready for cooking, put them into a 



CORN !37 

double boiler of agate or porcelain, or an earthen jar 
set in a pot of water, and steam until tender, adding 
no water to the apples. When done, beat up with a 
silver fork or spoon, and add a little sugar and a little 
lemon juice, if liked. Cinnamon, delicately sifted over 
the surface, is a pleasant addition. If preferred, the 
sauce maybe made, if done carefully, in an agate sauce- 
pan, using just enough water to reach the top pieces of 
apple (do not cover them). If pressed through a puree 
sieve it should be of agate, as one of tin destroys the 
delicate flavor of the apple. This sauce may be given 
to a child eighteen months old. 

Brussels Sprouts. — Brussels sprouts, when very 
tender and perfectly fresh, may be carefully used after 
a child is six years old. They must be cooked tender 
in salted water, and served plain or with cream sauce. 

Corn. — Corn for the nursery should always be used 
as a puree, or cooked on the cob in boiling salted water 
for ten minutes, the tender part to be pressed out with 
the back of a knife after scoring. This may be given 
to a child of three, as, being freed from its indigestible 
covering, it will not irritate. As the child grows older, 
the corn may be grated and served in the form of a 
corn pudding or omelet. 

There is probably no other rule so important for in- 
fant diet as that which regulates the amount of starch 
to be given to a child. Of the starchy foods allowed 
in the nursery for dinner, rice, potatoes and macaroni 
are the most important. They are palatable foods, and 



138 



CHILDREN'S DIET 



are easily digested if properly prepared and adminis- 
tered at the right age. 

Rice. — Rice is not suitable in itself as a sole food. 
It is lacking in fat and salts, and is poor in nitrogenous 
substances, but the starch which it contains (its chief 
constituent) is easily digested, and it is, therefore, a 
very valuable food when mixed in proper proportions 
with articles of food that are rich in fat and albuminoids. 
It should not be given freely to a child until after two 
and one-half years, using it in broths from eighteen 
months to this age. A very satisfactory way to prepare 
rice for children is to wash it well, soak it overnight in 
cold water, and cook rapidly in an abundance of salted 
water for twenty minutes. The grains will swell, and 
they are easy to digest. If the preliminary soaking is 
overlooked, drop the rice gradually into the boiling 
water, care being taken to keep the boiling continuous 
while this is done, and cook rapidly for thirty minutes, 
stirring once or twice with a fork to keep the grains 
from sticking to the bottom. When done, whichever 
method is followed, pour the rice into an agate sieve, 
let a quantity of hot water run through until it runs 
clear, and then set the sieve upon a plate in the oven 
until the rice is perfectly dry. This is a very good way 
to prepare it for breakfast for occasional use in place of 
oatmeal for the summer months, serving it with cream, 
and a little sugar or salt, as seems most advisable. 
Steaming is the method usually advocated for cooking 
rice. Inasmuch as the starch in rice is very easily 



POTATOES I39 

digested, long cooking is not so necessary as when 
cooking oatmeal, etc. ; and as, in selecting a child's 
menu, we do not depend upon the small amount of pro- 
teids found in rice (which are said to dissolve in cook- 
ing), the above method, judging by results, seems to be 
practically preferable, although steaming may be con- 
sidered so theoretically. 

Potatoes. — The potato is a salt-giving starch vege- 
table, to be eaten with lean meats or other nitrogenous 
foods. It is three-quarters water, and prevents concen- 
tration in food. The remaining quarter is nearly all 
starch. Care should be exercised in the selection of 
potatoes, those that are yellowish white being preferred. 
The fact that it takes three and a half hours to digest 
boiled potatoes, and two hours for those that are properly 
baked, will indicate at once which method is preferable 
for the nursery. The desired temperature for cooking 
starchy foods can be reached in the oven with care, and 
a potato of medium size should be baked in from thirty 
to forty-five minutes. When done in this way, they 
may be given occasionally with dish gravy from roast 
beef, roast mutton, or broiled beefsteak, or with salt 
and cream, to a child of eighteen months ; but it may 
be safer to wait a little while longer, according to the 
condition of the child. The potash in potato, which 
is an important salt and soluble in water, is not lost 
when potatoes are baked. For this reason, when mashed 
potatoes are desired for children, they should either be 
steamed in a steamer or a closed colander placed ove r 



I 4 o CHILDREN' S DIE T 

boiling water, or be boiled in the skin. When done, 
they should be lightly beaten with a fork, and a little 
cream and salt added. If properly cooked in this way, 
a potato will assume a mealy or floury appearance, and 
boiled potatoes should never be used in the nursery un- 
less done in this way. 

Macaroni, etc. — Macaroni, spaghetti and vermi- 
celli are all preparations of flour, supposed to be made 
from hard Italian wheat, rich in gluten. Sir Henry 
Thompson observes of macaroni, " It is certainly to be 
lamented that so little use is made in our country of 
Italian pastes. Macaroni in all its forms is, in fact, an 
aliment of very high nutritious power, being formed 
chiefly of gluten, the most valuable part of the wheat, 
from which the starch has been removed. Weight for 
weight, it may be regarded as not less valuable for flesh- 
forming purposes in the animal economy than beef or 
mutton. Most people can digest it more easily and 
rapidly than meat ; it offers, therefore, an admirable 
substitute for meat, particularly for lunch or mid-day 
meals." It must be selected with care, as there are 
many imitations in market which contain little gluten 
and much starch. To prepare it for the nursery, add 
about ten sticks of macaroni, broken into small pieces, to 
a quart of boiling salted water, dropping the pieces in 
one by one, that the water may continue boiling. Cook 
gently for twenty minutes, drain thoroughly, and put it 
back in the saucepan, adding cream or a pint of milk 
thickened with a teaspoonful of flour rubbed smooth in 



FRUIT IN THE NURSERY DIET 



141 



a teaspoonful of butter, and allow it to simmer for an- 
other twenty minutes. Enough milk or cream should 
be allowed to cover the macaroni well when done with 
the cream sauce which results from careful simmering. 
Spaghetti may be prepared in the same way. Vermi- 
celli is to be used as an addition to broths, but there is no 
reason why it should not be prepared as directed above. 

If any of the vegetables mentioned disagree, upon 
careful observation, with children possessing certain in- 
herent peculiarities, their use should be postponed until 
after the second teeth have appeared. It is always ad- 
visable to watch for indications of habitual non-assimi- 
lation of certain foods, and, if necessary, not to use 
them until later years, when a more liberal dietary in 
many respects may be allowed. 

Salads dressed with olive oil may be given after 
second dentition • the oil is a valuable nutrient, and the 
fresh green supplies an important part of a growing 
girl's or boy's requirements. 

The Place of Fruit in the Nursery Diet. 

The use of fruits in nursery dietetics is of the greatest 
importance. They contain a very large proportion of 
water, but their chief food-value lies in the sugar, acids 
and salts which they contain, which cool the blood, aid 
the digestion, tend to promote intestinal action, and 
correct tendencies to constipation. They are especially 
adapted to the nourishment of the brain and nervous 
system. 



142 



CHILDREN' S DIET 



The selection and use of fruit demand careful con- 
sideration, and it must be used moderately at all times, 
as any excess tends to intestinal irritation. The seeds, 
pulp and cellular parts are usually the disturbing ele- 
ments. The juices are, as a rule, perfectly wholesome, 
and may be used some time before solid fruits may be 
given. The Lancet says, "Nothing is more essential 
to learning than frequent reiteration. ... It might 
be supposed that by this time every one understood the 
importance of observing particular care in the selection 
of a summer dietary, especially as regards fruit. 
Hardly any question of domestic management is either 
more vital or more elementary, yet error continually 
arises in this connection in the simplest way. A few 
days ago a child died soon after eating strawberries. 
Why ? Because the fruit had been purchased two days 
previously, and, as was only to be expected, when eaten, 
was in a state of decay. It is impossible to resist the 
impression that neglect had something to do with the 
sad result in this instance. Luscious fruits are particu- 
larly liable to putrefactive change, and such thrifty 
processes as exposure to a cold and dry air, spreading 
out, and the like, suffice only to postpone decay for a 
brief period. We cannot do better than point to the 
incident above mentioned in order to remind the vender 
and purchaser alike that freshness is the only certain 
guarantee of safety when any succulent fruit forms an 
article of diet. We have not forgotten that another 
hardly less serious danger of the season awaits those 



THE USE OF FRUIT 



143 



who indulge in fruit when it is under-ripe. In this 
case taste as well as judgment commonly interposes a 
caution the importance of which can hardly be exag- 
gerated. Yet here, also, the consequences of neglect 
have too often been sadly apparent. ' ' 

As may be inferred from the above remarks, it is of 
the first importance that fruits be fresh, ripe, and in 
good condition. They must also be delicately han- 
dled, as their greatest value lies in the juice they con- 
tain, which may readily be lost in whole or in part by 
careless handling. A child two and a half years old 
may usually be allowed the juice and pulp of a sweet 
ripe orange ; no amount of sugar will correct the acid- 
ity of a sour orange, in a wholesome way, for nursery 
use. The juice of a sweet orange is indicated in fever- 
ish conditions, and it may be freely used under almost 
all circumstances after a mixed dietary has begun. It 
is well to remember, in giving all fresh fruits, that the 
best time is to give them for breakfast or for early din- 
ner, as all fruit allowable for supper should be cooked. 
It should also be remembered that when fat and meat 
form a considerable portion of the menu, fresh fruit 
should be carefully given ; therefore, in winter menus, 
when fat and meat are necessary for dinner, it is advis- 
able to use fresh fruit for breakfast and puddings, etc. ; 
for dinner, desserts. In summer, when meat and fat 
should be sparingly used, fresh fruit may be given for 
both breakfast and dinner \ never for supper at any sea- 
son of the year. Baked apples may be used frequently 



144 



CHILDREN' S DIE T 



after a child is two years old. Dr. Rotch says a baked 
apple may be given at the evening meal, when a child 
is fourteen to fifteen months old ; or, for variety, the 
apple can be made into a simple sauce, never, however, 
having the sauce made with much sugat. The pulp 
of a raw apple, scraped with a silver spoon or knife, 
may sometimes be given for breakfast. Apples, cooked 
or raw, are particularly useful with a concentrated diet 
(beef broth, eggs, etc.), and if properly selected they 
are easily digested. As a rule, a child who is delicate 
and has little appetite for breakfast will rarely turn 
away from a juicy baked apple, daintily served. For 
eating raw, a highly-colored apple, with rosy, sugary 
flesh, is most digestible, if care be taken to see that it 
is properly masticated. Any really ripe apple may be 
used with safety if peeled and scraped. The juices of 
almost any fruit may be used at two and a half years, 
either as a drink or with the varieties of desserts or 
farinaceous foods allowed. Cherries, grapes, raspber- 
ries, strawberries, blackberries, pineapples, and similar 
juicy fruits are suitable for this purpose. These juices 
may be prepared in the following manner, and possess 
the advantage of being ready for use at all seasons of 
the year. Express the clear juice of the fruit in the 
usual way, and boil it with a small quantity of sugar, 
about a quarter of a pound to a pint of juice. Boil 
fifteen minutes, stirring constantly, and skim as long as 
any scum arises. Then strain, put in bottles or jars, 
and seal. 



CRANBERRIES, STRAWBERRIES 



145 



After a child is two and a half years old, stewed 
fruits should be freely used, especially apples, prunes, 
figs, and peaches. For many children all ripe fruits 
are laxative, and for this reason alone, if for no other, 
they are valuable aids in regulating a diet that is fre- 
quently much too concentrated or too starchy, keeping 
a child dull, sluggish, and unhappy. 

The following fruits may be used after three years 
and a half, according to the child's power of digestion : 

Cranberries, which rank as an antiscorbutic and an 
astringent, may be given in the form of a sauce or a 
drink. They should be strained when used in the 
nursery. To make a cooling, refreshing drink, boil 
the berries in water double the measure of the berries. 
Boil until the juice has been thoroughly extracted, 
sweeten with one-half pound of sugar to a quart of 
juice, boil ten minutes, bottle, and seal while hot. 
This must be largely diluted. 

Strawberries are wholesome for nearly every one 
when fresh and ripe, if taken in moderation, but results 
must be carefully watched for individual idiosyncrasies. 
Some physicians recommend their use as early as two 
years and a half, but it is better to err on the safe side, 
and "make haste slowly." 

Dates and figs are highly nutritious, much more so 
than many other fruits, and in large quantities they are 
usually aperient. Children generally like dates when 
seeded, pressed flat, and served with a slice of buttered 
brown bread or saltine crackers. 

10 



l 4 6 CHILDREN' S DIE T 

Pears, when ripe, may be used carefully, but they 
are not to be preferred to other fruit for the first five 
years, as, in the opinion of many, they require a long 
time for digestion, and, being decidedly laxative, if not 
properly digested they are likely to give trouble. 

Peaches may be used from eighteen months up, 
when fresh and ripe and prepared carefully, — that is, 
pared immediately before eating. Dr. Rotch says a 
ripe peach, when in season, may often be given with 
benefit during the second year, especially if the infant 
is inclined to be constipated. They should always be 
pared for nursery use, as should every skin fruit, like 
the pear, apple, plum, etc. Diphtheria has been 
known to be carried by unwashed apples ; and, even if 
no contagion exists, there is something decidedly un- 
pleasant in the thought of eating fruit that has been 
handled constantly by unwashed hands from the time of 
picking, through transit, and until it reaches the table. 
Even dates and figs suffer no appreciable loss by being 
quickly but carefully washed and dried over a range or 
in the sun, and they are infinitely more appetizing 
when treated in this way. Sterilized or boiled water 
should always be used for this purpose. 

Grapes occupy an intermediary position, and may 
be used medicinally in many cases, under the guidance, 
however, of a physician. They are very rich in sugar, 
both in the fresh and in the dried form (raisins), and 
are easily digested when fully ripe. They are particu- 
larly useful in convalescence and in anaemic and catar- 



BLACKBERRIES I47 

rhal conditions. The skins and seeds of all grapes 
must be rejected ; the pulp, also, of many of them, 
chiefly on account of the seeds they contain. The 
pulp of Tokay, Malaga and similar grapes may be 
eaten freely. Grape juice is especially refreshing, and 
is liked by all children. It may be given among the 
first fruit juices allowed. A pleasant way to prepare 
grape juice for young children is to use a fruit-press (a 
press that is used for mashing potatoes will answer very 
well), putting pulp, skin and all into it and expressing 
the juice, which may be given clear or diluted for des- 
sert, or as a cooling drink in hot weather; whenever and 
in whatever quantity desired. In this way some of the 
valuable ingredients of fruit may be added to a child's 
dietary long before the use of solid fruit is allowed. 
The use of these fruit juices corresponds, in the order 
of the menus indicated, to the use of the vegetable 
waters spoken of when making meat broths, which may 
also be used before even vegetable purees are allowed. 

Blackberries are an astringent fruit, and they must 
be perfectly ripe to be eaten in their natural state. 
The usual blackberry in market is unripe, although 
black, and is unfit for food unless cooked. The berries 
are not sweet when in this condition, and if eaten they 
will easily cause a period of indigestion. A very good 
jelly may be made by using gelatin soaked in black- 
berry juice instead of cold water, in the proportion of 
a box of gelatin to a pint of juice, adding one cup of 
sugar and three cups of boiling water. Boil, strain, 



148 CHILDREN'S DIET 

cool, and keep in covered jars or tumblers. This 
method, with the variations called for by the different 
fruits in the way of sugar, flavoring, etc., will be found 
an excellent one for the use of all fruits. Cherries, 
pineapples, prunes, oranges, apples, grapes, raspberries, 
currants and rhubarb are all to be recommended in 
this form. A further variation may be made at any 
time by adding the whites of eggs in proportion to the 
quantity made (as, for instance, two to four whites to 
one box of gelatin), beating the whites stiff, and whip- 
ping them into the fruit jelly a little at a time before it 
is quite firm. This may be eaten plain or with sweet 
cream. 

Corn starch and blancmange may be varied by cook- 
ing them with fruit juices instead of milk, to be served 
with milk or cream. 

The white of egg beaten very stiff and slightly 
sweetened, or whipped cream, either of them to be 
used with the addition of fruit or fruit jelly, is a des- 
sert that is simple, easily made, and one that not only 
pleases the eye and palate, but possesses desirable nutri- 
ment as well. 

Whilst the selection of a fruit or fruit dessert may 
seem the least important portion of the nursery menu, 
it does not occupy this position, as, if used at all, it 
must be considered in connection with the idea carried 
out in selecting the entire menu for the meal. We 
must always remember the rules to be followed in health 
in regard to proportionate quantities of food containing 



DESSERTS 149 

albuminoids, starches, fats, and sugars, — one supple- 
menting the other. Under other conditions than those 
of health an entirely different plan must be followed, 
as special conditions call for specially directed nutri- 
ents, and at such times fruits and vegetables are not 
desirable, unless recommended by some one of unques- 
tionable authority, — i.e., the family physician. 

Desserts. 

Brown Betty. — Alternate layers of sliced apples 
and dry bread crumbs, just enough crumbs to cover the 
apples. Add bits of butter, sugar, and ground cinna- 
mon. Do this until the pudding-dish is full, having 
bread on the top. Pour half a cup of molasses or milk 
and half a cup of water over the whole, set the dish 
in a pan of boiling water, and bake in a moderately 
hot oven for three-quarters of an hour. Serve with 
cream. 

Fruit Tapioca Pudding. — Boil one-half cupful of 
pearl tapioca in one quart of boiling water until soft 
and transparent. Add one-half teaspoonful of salt and 
one-half cupful of sugar ; pare and core three tart 
apples, or three pears, and fill the centres with sugar 
and a little cinnamon or cloves ; put in a baking-dish, 
pour the tapioca around them ; and bake until the fruit 
is tender. Serve hot or cold, with cream. 

Strawberry Custard. — Make a boiled custard with 
the yolks of five eggs, one quart of milk, one-half cup- 



*5° 



CHILDREN'S DIET 



ful of sugar, and one-half teaspoonful of vanilla. 
Crush and strain one pint of berries, and mix with 
them one-half cupful of powdered sugar. Gradually 
beat this into the well-beaten whites of four eggs. If 
the fruit is very acid, more sugar will be required. 
Serve the custard in small glass cups, and pile the 
strawberry -float on top. {Household. ) 

Raspberry Blancmange. — Any blancmange may 
be made with fruit juice according to the following 
directions : 

Into a pint of boiling fresh milk stir two tablespoon- 
fuls of corn starch made smooth in a little cold milk. 
While thickening, add two tablespoonfuls of sugar and 
one- half cupful of raspberry juice, and turn into a 
double boiler, where it should be steamed for half an 
hour. Place in moulds (tiny cups are desirable for 
nursery use), cool, and serve with sweet cream. 

Cherry Jelly. — Use one pint of cherry juice instead 
of cold water, to soak the required amount of gelatin ; 
add the juice of two lemons, two cups of sugar, and 
three cups of boiling water. Some may prefer a trifle 
more sugar. Sweeten to taste, and seal in jars or tum- 
blers. 

Rhubarb and Orange Jam.— Allow one quart of 
finely cut rhubarb, six Valencia oranges, and the same 
weight of sugar as of fruit. Peel the oranges, remove 
as much of the white pith as possible, divide them, and 
take out the pips. Put the pulp, half the rinds, and 
the rhubarb, peeled and cut up, into the scales, weigh, 



RHUBARB JELL Y 151 

and allow the same quantity of sugar as of fruit. Then 
put all into the preserving kettle, bring to a boil, skim, 
and simmer for an hour, or until done. 

Dates and Cream. — Remove the stones from 
dates, then cut them rather fine, and put them in a 
glass dish ; cover them with whipped cream, and stand 
aside in a cold place for thirty minutes before serving. 
You will have a dainty and wholesome dessert that can 
be eaten by the children of the family. 

Dates and figs may be washed, soaked overnight, 
and stewed slowly, adding a little lemon juice if liked. 

Jellied Apples. — Pare and slice thin a dozen or 
more tart apples. Place in a pudding-dish alternate 
layers of apple and brown sugar, and a sprinkling of 
cinnamon, and when the dish has been filled in this 
way, pour over it one-half cup of water. Lay a but- 
tered plate over the top, and cook slowly for three 
hours. Set in a cold place, and when ready turn out 
into a glass dish. Whip half a pint of cream and pile 
it up around the jellied apple. 

Apple Snow. (Adapted from Davies.) — Reduce 
two apples to a pulp, press this through a sieve, sweeten, 
and flavor. Have ready the whites of two eggs, beaten 
stiff. Beat the apple-pulp to a froth, and whisk the 
two together until they look like stiff snow. 

Rhubarb Jelly. — To be made in May. Wash the 
stalks, and cut without peeling ; cover with cold water 
and simmer until soft. Then proceed in the usual man- 
ner, letting the juice drip through a jelly-bag • do not 



152 



CHILDREN'S DIET 



squeeze. Use one pound of sugar (granulated) to a 
pint of juice, and boil fifteen minutes. Heat the sugar 
in the oven, stirring frequently; add it at the end of 
the fifteen minutes' boiling, and stir until it comes to a 
boil. Strain through cheese-cloth, pour into jelly- 
tumblers, and cover with melted paraffin, a second layer 
after first has cooled. 

Rhubarb Mould. (Davies. ) — One quart of red rhu- 
barb cut in pieces, put into a covered saucepan. Let it 
boil until it is a pulp ; soak half an ounce of gelatin in 
cold water, pour just enough boiling water over it to dis- 
solve it ; add to it the rhubarb, with sugar to sweeten ; 
let it boil fifteen minutes ; add a few drops of essence 
of lemon. Butter a mould and pour in the rhubarb. 
Next dip the mould in hot water, and turn out on a 
glass dish. 

Rhubarb Jam. — Rhubarb jam is desirable for 
nursery use, and may be made in the proportion of a 
pound of sugar to a pound and a quarter of rhubarb, 
adding a little lemon peel. Boil one hour after the 
sugar has dissolved. 

Orange Jelly. — Dissolve three-fourths of a box of 
gelatin in one and one half pints of water ; add one- 
half pint of orange juice, sugar to sweeten, and the juice 
of one lemon. Boil, strain, and cool, and keep cov- 
ered until used. 

Sago Jelly. — Soak one cup of sago overnight in 
one pint of cold water. In the morning add one pint 
of boiling water. Boil in a double boiler one hour ; 



IRISH MOSS TEA 



153 



add one teaspoonful of salt, one cup of sugar, and 
one teaspoonful of lemon juice. {Trained JVitrse.) 

Prune Jelly. — Cover one pound of prunes with 
one quart of water ; cook slowly. Add sugar to 
sweeten, and one-half box of gelatin dissolved in a 
pint of water and boiled. Strain, cool, and keep cov- 
ered. 

Clarified Apples. — Prepare the apples as for sauce, 
in even-sized pieces, and simmer until tender in boil- 
ing sugar and water, turning the pieces once, using a 
flat agate saucepan, from which it is easy to remove 
the pieces of apple without breaking them as they be- 
come tender. Cook the syrup for ten minutes after the 
apples have been taken out, then pour it over them, 
sprinkle with cinnamon, and let them cool in the syrup. 
Orange or lemon juice may be used for flavoring. 

Apple Water. — Mash two large tart apples that 
have been sprinkled with sugar and baked tender and 
slightly brown, and pour over them a pint of boiling 
water ; let stand covered in a cool place for an hour or 
two, strain, and use. 

Irish Moss Tea.— Take a handful of Irish moss 
that has been washed and drained ; pour cold water 
over it, and let it simmer on the back of the stove until 
it is dissolved ; then strain and mix with lemon juice 
and sugar. This is said to be excellent in rheumatic 
affections. If one is troubled with a dry, hacking 
cough at night, it will often give relief if kept near the 
bedside and frequently sipped. 



3 5 4 CHILDREN' S DIE T 

Fruit Sauce. — Mash a quart of ripe fruit \ beat it, 
sift a cupful of sugar over it, and set away ; if the fruit 
is very sweet, less sugar will be required. About ten 
minutes before the sauce is needed, set it over the fire 
and stir constantly ; when heated nearly to boiling, 
turn it about the base of the pudding, which has been 
placed in a deep platter. If the pudding boiler has a 
tube in the centre, as it usually has, there is, of course, 
a hole in the centre of the pudding, and this may be 
filled with the fruit sauce, which is, by the way, as at- 
tractive in appearance as it is delicious in taste. 

Marshmallow Drops. — This is a confection 
greatly relished by many, healthful and unobjectiona- 
ble. It can be made quite conveniently at home ; if 
the best of materials are used and care is exercised, the 
product will be fully equal to any that the market 
affords, and it can be made at any time and in any 
quantity to suit the occasion. Few people have an 
idea of the ingredients used or of the manner of their 
use, but here is the whole secret : A half pound of gum 
arabic is to be dissolved in a pint of water ; strain the 
solution, to remove any specks of organic matter con- 
tained in the gum, then add one-half pound of w T hite 
sugar ; place the whole over a moderate fire, and stir 
continually until the sugar is dissolved and a honey -like 
consistency is reached ; then add, little by little, the 
whites of four eggs, thoroughly beaten, and stir the 
mixture till it becomes thin and will no longer adhere 
to the finger. The marshmallow factor is added by 



RICE MILK ISS 

flavoring with as much tincture of marshmallow as may 
be desired. The compound is then poured into a tin 
or earthern vessel which has been lightly covered with 
powdered starch ; when cool, it is cut into squares, 
which are also dusted with the starch, and the process 
is completed. ( Good Housekeeping. ) 

Orange Syrup. — Squeeze the juice of thin-skinned 
oranges through a sieve, and to every pint add one and 
one-half pounds of powered sugar and the juice of one 
lemon. Boil the syrup fifteen minutes, and skim as long 
as any scum rises. Strain it, bottle, and seal up tight, 
and it will keep a long time. Added to a glass of water 
it makes a delicious drink for an invalid. 

Lime Water. — Lime water is easily made at home 
for nursery use by putting a piece of unslaked lime the 
size of a walnut into two quarts of filtered water in an 
earthen vessel, and stirring thoroughly ; allow the mix- 
ture to settle, and pour off the clear solution as required 
for use, replacing the water and stirring up as consumed. 
(Yeo.) 

Rice Water. — This is a useful drink in dysentery, 
diarrhoea, etc. Wash well one ounce of rice in cold 
water, then soak for three hours in a quart of water kept 
at a tepid heat, and afterwards boil slowly for an hour, 
and strain. It may be flavored with lemon peel, cloves, 
or other spice. (Pavey. ) 

Rice Milk. — Soak one ounce of rice for twelve 
hours, wash it quite clean, and drain it. Add the soaked 
rice to a pint of boiling milk, with half a teaspoonful 



1 5 6 CHILDREN' S DIE T 

of salt and sugar. Stir well and cook slowly for one 
hour. Rub through a hair sieve. Sago or tapioca may 
be substituted for rice. (Yeo.) 

Bread Jelly.— Take four ounces of bread crumbs 
two or three days old, soak in cold water for six or eight 
hours, then squeeze all the water out of it (lactic acid 
and other peccant matters are thus removed). Place 
the pulp in fresh water, and boil gently for an hour and 
a half to break up the granules of starch and promote 
its conversion into dextrin and glucose. Rub this semi- 
fluid gruel through a fine hair sieve ; when cold it forms 
a smooth jelly. It will not keep long. (Yeo.) 

Mulled Egg. — To be used in diseases in which the 
symptom of cough shows a certain degree of persistence. 
It is simply an emulsion of the yolk of egg in warm 
water, sweetened and seasoned to taste. It is prepared, 
as is well known, by mixing powdered sugar, the yolk 
of an egg, and a coffeespoonful of orange-flower water, 
adding boiling water gradually while stirring the mix- 
ture. ( Fonssagrives. ) 

Maple Molasses Gingerbread. — One cupful of 
boiling water, a piece of butter the size of an egg, one 
cupful of maple molasses, one-half teaspoonful of soda, 
one-half teaspoonful of ginger, two cupfuls of flour. 
Common molasses may be substituted for the maple 
molasses, but the flavor will not be the same. {House- 
hold. ) 

A Wholesome Sponge-Cake. — First sift the flour 
and sugar. Whisk the whites of the eggs stiff. Beat 



RICE PUDDING WITHO UT EGGS 157 

the yolks of the eggs very light in a large bowl, then 
stir in very gradually the sugar and a tablespoonful of 
milk ; add the whites, blending all well before gently 
stirring in the flour and a heaping teaspoonful of baking- 
powder. Bake in a well-buttered mould for one hour 
in a moderately quick oven. The proportions for a 
small cake are three eggs, one and a half cupfuls of 
flour, and one cupful of pulverized sugar. The batter 
should pour easily. 

Rice Pudding with Eggs. — As eggs should be 
cooked lightly to be digestible, they should not be added 
to the farinaceous or milk puddings when first mixing, 
as is the usual custom. For rice pudding steam the rice 
tender in milk, using four teaspoonfuls of rice to a pint 
of milk ; allow it to cool for a few minutes before stir- 
ring in two well-beaten eggs, which should not curdle, 
but should be partly cooked by the hot rice. Sweeten 
to taste, and add vanilla, lemon, or any flavor desired. 
Grated nutmeg is very nice. Brown lightly and very 
quickly in a very hot oven. The above may be varied 
by pressing the rice through a puree sieve when hot. 
Add the eggs and flavoring, omit browning, and steam 
the whole mixture for only a few minutes in a double 
boiler. The yolks also may be omitted if a white pud- 
ding is desired, using four whites in place of two whole 
eggs. This need not be steamed after mixing if the 
whites have been beaten stiff. 

Rice Pudding without Eggs. — Put two table- 
spoonfuls of rice into two cupfuls of sweetened and 



15* 



CHILDREN'S DIET 



flavored milk, and set it in a moderately hot oven. 
Stir every fifteen minutes at first, and every half-hour 
while the top forms. Any good cook understands the 
process, which, if carefully followed for two hours, 
produces a creamy, slightly brown pudding that is in- 
variably relished by children. A few raisins may some- 
times be added for children over five years old. 

Snow Pudding. (Burnet.) — Put into half a pint 
of cold water half a package of gelatin ; let it stand one 
hour • then add one pint of boiling water, half a pound 
of sugar, and the juice of two lemons. Stir and strain, 
and let it stand, covered, in a cool place all night. 
Beat the whites of two eggs very stiff, and then beat 
them well into the mixture. Pour into a mould. 

Bread Pudding. — Soak one pint of fine bread 
crumbs in a pint of milk until soft, add three table- 
spoonfuls of cocoa dissolved in a little water or a des- 
sertspoonful of vanilla for flavoring, three well-beaten 
eggs, a cupful of granulated sugar, and another pint of 
milk. Either plain or whipped cream is very good 
with this pudding, 

Koumyss. — With a little attention to some import- 
ant details, koumyss may be readily made by any one, 
the sole ingredients requisite being milk, sugar, and 
yeast. A clean quart bottle is filled three -fourths full 
of perfectly fresh milk, and to this is added a table- 
spoonful of fresh brewer's yeast, or one-fourth of a 
cake of compressed yeast, and a tablespoon ful of white 
sugar. The bottle is thoroughly shaken, and then 



BARLEY WATER WITH WHITE OF EGG 



J 59 



filled with milk to within two or three inches of the 
top, and again shaken. It is then tightly corked with 
a cork that has been softened by soaking in hot water, 
and for this purpose a corking machine should be em- 
ployed. When the cork is driven home it is properly 
tied down. The bottles are now placed in an upright 
position in a cold place, at or near the temperature of 
5 2 F., where they should remain two or three days. 
They are then put on their sides in a cool cellar or re- 
frigerator. Koumyss is at its best, probably, when five 
or six days old, but can be kept indefinitely at a tem- 
perature not exceeding 52 F. (Frederick P. Henry, 
M.D.) 

Wine Whey. — Boil a quart of milk, add to it 
half a pint of wine ; put on the fire till it boils again, 
then set aside till the curd settles ; pour off the whey 
and sweeten to taste. It is said that good country 
cider is as nice as the wine. {Trained Nurse.*) 

Barley Water with White of Egg. — Take a 
tablespoonful of coarse barley and wash well with cold 
water, rejecting the washings. Then boil for an hour 
or more with a pint and a half of clean water, in a cov- 
ered vessel or saucepan. Add a pinch of salt and 
enough sugar to render palatable, and strain. To four 
or six ounces of barley water thus prepared add the 
white of one egg. 

The value of this preparation in gastro-intestinal in- 
flammation and irritation is not easily overestimated. 
In the enterocolitis (inflammation of the small intestine 



1 60 CHILDREN' S DIE T 

and the colon) of very young infants, its exclusive ad- 
ministration for thirty-six or forty-eight hours will often 
relieve when all other measures have failed. (J. Ho- 
bart Egbert, M.D.) 

The following recipes have been tested, and may be 
used for any child in fair health, as soon as simple des- 
serts are ordinarily allowed, which, under average con- 
ditions, is after two and a half years. For the earlier 
desserts, fruit juices, which should be among the first 
to be given, have already been discussed. 

Junkets and Custards. — Junket, made with the 
essence of pepsin (Fairchild's), is one of the first solid 
desserts to be recommended, and it may be given at 
eighteen months, as it contains a large amount of nutri- 
ment, is easily digested, and is usually very acceptable. 
It can be varied for later years in several ways, — by the 
use of beaten raw egg stirred in the milk, or by using any 
flavor that is not acid. A baked apple is also one of 
the first desserts allowed. A sound ripe apple baked 
properly is an easily digested delicacy, taking but an 
hour and a half for preparation in the stomach for as- 
similation. It is nourishing, a stimulant, and altogether 
a food to be commended for nursery use, and it may be 
used as one of the first important changes when making 
additions to a child's dietary of milk and cereals. As 
stated elsewhere, Dr. Rotch allows it to be used from 
the fourteenth to the fifteenth month. 

A very satisfactory way to bake an apple for nursery 
use is to peel and core it carefully, pour a cup of cold 



JUNKETS AND CUSTARDS ^i 

water over it, sprinkle lightly with sugar, cover closely, 
and bake in a moderate oven until tender. If carefully 
done, it should be as juicy and soft as jelly. 

Among the lighter desserts are whipped cream and 
soft custards. These are easily prepared, and give 
sufficient variety until a child is three years old, when 
ice cream, rice pudding, orange float, tapioca, farina, 
and the various milk puddings may follow in their 
order. 

The chief point to remember in the selection of des- 
serts is that when the child has a full menu for the 
earlier part of the dinner — e.g., meat or broth, one 
cereal (rice), one juicy vegetable (puree of spinach)? 
and bread and butter — a fruit or a light dessert is called 
for. But when for unavoidable reasons the main part 
of the dinner is light, as, for instance, bread and butter 
and beef broth, a substantial dessert should be chosen, 
— i.e. , rice or tapioca pudding, milk jelly or cup custard, 
all of which contain the constituents of a varied diet, 
and thus supplement what would otherwise be an in- 
sufficient meal. When carrying out this idea, eggs 
should be added to the milk puddings, omitting them 
when lighter desserts are needed. 

Soft or cup custards may be made white or yellow 
by using or omitting half of the egg. They may also 
be colored and flavored with fruit juices, as cherry, 
prune, raspberry, etc. The proportions for a white 
cup custard would be the whites of three eggs to a 
pint of milk, and one or two whole eggs for the yellow 

ii 



! 6 2 CHILDREN' S DIE T 

for the same quantity of milk. When using fruit 
juices for custards, take less milk in proportion to the 
quantity of juice used. Always use hot milk when 
adding the sugar and salt, and for a soft custard stir 
in a double pan or boiler until it thickens, using more 
milk than is called for in a recipe for cup custard. A 
soft custard should boil three minutes. A cup custard 
should be poured into cups, set in a pan of hot water, 
and baked twenty minutes in a hot oven. 

Gelatin may be used in the nursery in a variety of 
ways. Dissolve one-half box in one pint of water, one- 
half cup of sugar, and one-quarter pint of fruit juice, 
using lemon and orange, currant juice and lemon, prune 
juice (one pound of prunes to a quart of water boiled 
to a syrup), grape juice, blackberry syrup, or one made 
from cranberries, remembering the astringent properties 
of both blackberries and cranberries, and the laxative 
quality of prunes. Boil the mixture, with whatever 
flavor, strain and cool on ice — covered, as gelatin readily 
absorbs germs, odors, etc. 

Plain jelly made according to these directions, fla- 
vored with orange, vanilla, or lemon, and whipped with 
cream before it is quite firm, is a delicate and appetizing 
dessert. 

Whipped cream flavored with prune juice, or with a 
small quantity of dry cocoa, is another dainty dessert. 

Grape sauce, or jelly made with gelatin, is especially 
refreshing to convalescents. 

A simple fruit jam, made without the seeds or skins 



JUNKETS AND CUSTARDS ^3 

of the fruit, may be used occasionally with bread and 
butter for children over three years of age. 

As mentioned before, these desserts can be easily made 
by any plain cook. The value of the suggestions lies 
in the variety that may be given to two seemingly con- 
ventional desserts, — custard and gelatin. 

Milk puddings may be equally varied by using a little 
judgment, a little experimenting, and by choosing sim- 
ple, sweet ingredients, such as tapioca with fruit, rice 
with or without eggs, barley flour with orange flavoring, 
bread crumbs or bread soaked in milk, with chocolate 
or apple and eggs added, etc. 

Irish moss, dissolved and used with corn starch, made 
into blancmange, is a pleasant change. Add chocolate 
to the ordinary recipe for blancmange, and serve with 
sweet cream, for another variation. 

Milk jelly is the only dessert mentioned that may not 
be generally known. It is said to be retained by the 
most sensitive stomach, and will nourish when almost 
nothing else will be tolerated. 

Heat one quart of milk, then add and stir until dis- 
solved one pound of granulated sugar ; add an ounce of 
gelatin dissolved, and allow the mixture to boil for ten 
minutes. Before straining and cooling, add the juice 
of three lemons or any flavoring desired. Pour into 
cups, cover, and keep in a cool place. 

With the varieties suggested, and the long list of 
stewed fruits and fruit juices that may be used, it seems 
incredible that mothers will persist in feeding their little 



1 64 CHILDREN'S DIE T 

darlings with sweetmeats, doughnuts, cookies, heavy rich 
cakes, preserves, and canned fruits, even, as the writer 
has seen, going so far as to give them tea and coffee, 
with no consideration whatever for the delicacy of the 
child's digestion. 



INDEX. 



Abernethy, Dr. John, on 
amount of food necessary for 
the needs of the economy, 2 
Adams, Dr. Samuel, on daily 

naps for children, 33 
Anaemic children, diet for, 74 
Antidotes for poisons, 77 
for antimonial wine, 78 
for aqua fortis, 78 
for arsenic, 78 
for bedbug poison, 78 
for bicarbonate of potassium, 

78 

for blue vitriol, 78 

for carbolic acid, 78 

for carbonate of sodium, 79 

for caustic potash, 78 

for caustic soda, yS 

for chloral hydrate, 78 

for chloroform, 78 

for cobalt, 79 

for copperas, 79 

for corrosive sublimate, 78 

for Fowler's solution, 78 

for hydrochloric acid, 78 

for laudanum, 79 

for lead- water, 78 

for morphine, 79 

for nitrate of silver, 79 

for nux vomica, 79 

for oil of vitriol, 78 

for opium (paregoric), 79 

for oxalic acid, 78 

for red precipitate, 78 

for saltpetre, 78 



Antidotes for strychnine (rat and 
beetle poison), 79 
for sugar of lead, 78 
for sulphate of zinc, 78 
for tartar emetic, 78 
for vermilion, 78 
for volatile alkali, 78 
for white precipitate, 78 

Antimonial wine, treatment of 
poisoning by, 78 

Apple, baked, as an appetizer, 
144 
clarified, recipe for, 153 
how to bake, 160 
jellied, recipe for, 151 
sauce, recipe for, 136 
snow, recipe for, 151 

Apple- water, recipe for, 153 

Aqua fortis, treatment of poison- 
ing by, 78 

Arrowroot gruel, recipe for, 

Arsenic, treatment of poisoning 

by, 78 
Artificial feeding of infants, Dr. 

Eustace Smith on, 3 
Asparagus, method of cooking, 

135 

Atwater, Professor, on composi- 
tion of foods, 51 

Baby, the, Dr. Jacobi on good 

food for, 1 7 
Barley broth, recipe for, 106 
gruel, recipe for, 114 

(165) 



i66 



INDEX 



Barley-water with white of egg, 

recipe for, 159 
Beans, method of cooking, 135 
Bedbug poison, treatment of 

poisoning by, 78 
Beef broth, recipe for, 104 
essence, recipe for, 107 
juice, recipe for, 106 
roast, gravy, recipe for, no 
method of cooking, 127 
tea, recipe for, 107 
Beets, method of cooking, 136 
Bicarbonate of potassium, treat- 
ment of poisoning by, 78 
Blackberries, use of, 144 
Blackberry jelly, recipe for, 147 
Blancmange, oatmeal, recipe for, 
117 
raspberry, recipe for, 150 
Blue vitriol, treatment of poison- 
ing by, 78 
Bottles, nursing, care of, 21 
Bread and milk, an ideal supper, 
66 
jelly, recipe for, 156 
pudding, recipe for, 158 
recipe for making, 119 
Breakfast combinations for win- 
ter, 47 
custard, savory, recipe for, 

112 
menus for child of five or six 
years, 47 
Breakfasts, cool morning, 64 
summer, 53 

for child of three to five 
years, 45 
Bronchitis, diet in, 75 
Broth, barley, recipe for, 106 
beef, recipe for, 104 
chicken, recipe for, 105, 

108 
clam, recipe for, 109 



Broth, mutton and veal, 107 
oyster, recipe for, 109 
veal, recipe for, 107 
Broths, use of vegetables in, 102 
Brown Betty, recipe for, 149 
Browned flour gruel, recipe for, 

115 

Bruen, Dr. Edward T., on diges- 
tion, 67 

Brussels sprouts, method of cook- 
ing, 137 

Burnet, Dr. R. W., on foods in 
illness, 74 

Butter, age to allow, 31 

Cake, should never be given to 
infants, 62 
Moravian, recipe for, 123 

Candy, should never be given to 
infants, 62 

Carbohydrates, 5 1 

Carbolic acid, treatment of poi- 
soning by, 78 

Carbonate of sodium, treatment 
of poisoning by, 79 

Carrots, method of cooking, 134 

Cauliflower, method of cooking, 

134 
Caustic potash, treatment of poi- 
soning by, 78 
soda, treatment of poisoning 
by, 78 
Celery, method of cooking, 133 
Cereals, necessary for growing 
children, 27 
should be exposed to pro- 
longed heat in cooking, 27 
use of sugar with, 63 
Cherries, use of, 144 
Cherry jelly, recipe for, 150 
Chicken broth, recipe for, 105, 108 
custard, recipe for, 108 
roasted, portions to use, 131 



INDEX 



167 



Children, adult food unsuitable 
for, 1 , 

after thirty months old 
food for, 39 

amount of food necessary 
for, 2 

anaemic, diet for, 74 

cereals necessary for pro- 
moting growth of, 27 

convenient daily routine for, 

33 

development of, retarded by 
use of improper food, 1 

dinner menus allowable for, 
after thirty months, 40 

disease likely to follow im- 
proper feeding of, 1 

five years old, week's menus 
for, 41 

five or six years old, break- 
fast menus for, 47 

Fonssagrives on prevention 
of disease in, 68 

food idiosyncrasies of, im- 
portance of ascertaining, 3 

Froebel, on proper food as a 
factor in the development 
of, 7 

fourteen to fifteen months 
old, menu for, 35 
alternating menu for, 

35 
necessity of selection of food 

for, 1 
night feeding of, 34 
nineteen months old, menu 
for, 37 
alternating menu for, 

seventeen to eighteen months 
old, menu for, 36 
alternating menu for, 

36 



Children, three to five years old, 
suggestions for break- 
fast in summer for, 45 
summer dinner menus 
for, 45 
twelve months old, Dr. 
Rotch's suggestions for 
feeding, 30 
twelve to thirteen months 
old, menu for, 32 
alternating menu for, 

34 
twenty to thirty months old, 

menu for, 38 
use of animal food in diet of, 

29 
variation in food to meet 

changed conditions in, 2 
waste and repair in, 1,2 
young, Sir Henry Thomp- 
son's rules for feeding, 29 
Chloral hydrate, treatment of 

poisoning by, 78 
Chloroform, treatment of poi- 
soning by, 78 
Clam broth, recipe for, 109 
Clarified apples, recipe for, 153 
Cobalt, treatment of poisoning 

by, 79 
Cold weather, use of heat-pro- 
ducing foods in, 3 
Cool morning breakfasts, 64 
Copperas, treatment of poisoning 

by, 79 
Corn, method of cooking, 137 
Corn omelet, recipe for, 56 
Cornmeal muffins, recipe for, 1 18 
mush, recipes for, 116, 118 
Corrosive sublimate, treatment of 

poisoning by, 78 
Cranberries, method of cooking, 

145 
Cream gruel, recipe for, 114 



H58 



INDEX 



Cream muffins, recipe for, 118 
Cup custards, recipes for, 161 
Custard, chicken, recipe for, 108 

cup, recipe for, 161 

egg, without milk, recipe 
for, no 

savory breakfast, recipe for, 

112 

strawberry, recipe for, 149 

Dainty service, importance of, 

54 
Dates, use of, 145 

and cream, recipe for, 151 
Davis, Dr. Edward T., On rate 
of increase of weight of infant, 
12 
Dentition, second, sample dinner 

menu for period of, 48 
Desserts % i49 

summer, use of, as supple- 
mentary foods, 57 
Diarrhoea, diet in, 75 
Diet, a sample school, 86 
convalescent, 73 
for anaemic children, 74 
for nursing mother, 10 

abstention from stimu- 
lants, 10 
malt extracts, II 
meat, 10 
milk at night, 1 1 
Dr. Rotch on, 1 1 
for school children, 79 
in illness, 71 
light, 71 
liquid, 71 
necessity for, to be well 

balanced, 3 
preventive, 68 

Sir Henry Thompson on dis- 
ease caused by errors in , 7 
summer, 52 



Digestion, process of, 67 
Digestive power, weakened, mod- 
ification of food to suit, 3 
Dining-room, cool-looking, 55 
Dinner menu, sample, for period 
of second dentition, 48 
menus, summer, for children 
from three to five years 

old, 45 
Dinners, simple, 56 
Diphtheria, diet in, 75 
Disease, Fonssagrives on preven- 
tion of, in children, 68 
infected milk a means for 

transmission of, 17 
liable to follow improper 

feeding of children, 1 
Sir Henry Thompson on 
errors of diet as a cause 
of, 7 
Dutton, Professor, on school 
gardens, 98 
on school luncheons, 95 

Egg custard without rriilk, recipe 
for, no 
mulled, recipe for, 156 
poached, recipe for, 112 
Eggs, when to allow, 31 
Exercise for nursing mother, 9 

Farina gruel, recipe for, 114 
porridge, recipe for, 117 
Feeding, substitute, intervals and 
amounts, 22 
Dr. Rotch' s table for, 23 
Feeding-tube, graduated, 24 
Figs, use of, 145 
Fish, method of cooking, 130 
Fonssagrives, on method of cook- 
ing eggs, 72 
on prevention of disease in 
children, 68 



INDEX 



169 



Fonssagrives, on rules in illness, 

69 

Food, amount of, necessary for 

children, 2 
animal, in diet of children, 

29 
Dr. Abernethyon amount of, 

necessary for the needs of 

the economy, 2 
heat-producing, suitable for 

cold weather, 3 
in illness, preparation of, 4 
Fonssagrives' rules for, 

69 

liquid, in hot weather, 3 
proper, as a factor in the de- 
velopment of children, 7 
reasons for a study of the 

uses of, 1 
undigested, manner in which 

harm is caused by, 5 
variation in, to meet changed 
conditions in children, 2 
Food action, reasons why a mo- 
ther should understand the 
principles of, 3 
Food-idiosyncrasies of children, 

necessity of ascertaining, 3 
Foods, forbidden, 49 

nursery, classes of, 50 
quantities to allow, 28 
salt-giving, 52 
starch, home preparation of, 

for infants, 1 5 
supplementary, use of sum- 
mer desserts as, 57 
Fowler's solution, treatment ' of 

poisoning by, 78 
Freeman, Dr. Rowland Godfrey, 
apparatus for heating milk, 

on night feeding of infants, 
12 



Froebel, Friedrich Wilhelm Au- 
gust, on proper food as a fac- 
tor in the development of chil- 
dren, 7 
Fruit, how to use, 31, 59 

place of, in the nursery diet, 

141 
sauce, recipe for, 154 
tapioca pudding, recipe for, 
149 

Gardens, school, Professor Dut- 
ton on, 98 

Gee, Dr., on prevalence of ra- 
chitis, 67 

Gelatin, use of, 162 

Gingerbread, maple molasses, 
recipe for, 156 

Graham muffins, recipe for, 118 

Grape juice, method of preparing, 

147 
Grapes, use of, 144, 146 
Gross, Dr. Samuel D., on diet 

for the sick, 71 
Growth of infants, normal in- 
crease of, 12 
Gruel, arrowroot, recipe for, 115 
barley, recipe for, 114 
browned flour, recipe for, 115 
cream, recipe for, 114 
farina, recipe for, 114 
malted, recipe for, 115 
oatmeal, recipe for, 113 

Health, preservation of, Her- 
bert Spencer on, 7 

Hominy, method of preparing, 
116 

Hot weather, use of liquid food 
in, 3 

Hydrocarbons or fats, 52 

Hydrochloric acid, treatment of 
poisoning by, 78 



170 



INDEX 



Illness, diet in, 67 

convalescent, 73 
light, 72 
liquid, 71 
Fonssagrives , rules in, 69 
preparation of food in, 4 
Infants, artificial rearing of, Dr. 
Eustace Smith on, 3 
daily naps of, 33 
home preparation of starch 

foods for, 1 5 
how to feed, during the first 

two or three days, 1 1 
ideal conditions for nursing, 

.9 

increase of weight of, an in- 
dex to nutrition, 12 
night feeding of, Dr. Free- 
man on, 12 
normal increase of growth 

of, 12 
size of stomach of, at birth, 2 5 
weaning, proper time for, 1 3 
Invalids, Dr. S. Weir Mitchell's 

recipe for, 112 
Irish moss tea, recipe for, 153 

Jacobi, Dr. Abraham, on good 
food for a baby, 17 

Jam, rhubarb, recipe for, 152 
rhubarb and orange, recipe 
for, 150 

Jellied apples, recipe for, 151 

Jelly, blackberry, recipe for, 147 
bread, recipe for, 156 
cherry, recipe for, 150 
oatmeal, recipe for, 1 17 
orange, recipe for, 152 
prune, recipe for, 153 
rhubarb, recipe for, 151 
sago, recipe for, 152 
savory, recipe for, 109 

Junkets, recipes for, 160 



Koumyss, recipe for, 158 

Laudanum, treatment of poison- 
ing by, 79 
Lead-water, treatment of poison- 
ing by, 78 
Lime-water, recipe for, 155 
Luncheon, school, 89 

in Philadelphia Normal 
School for Girls, 91 

Macaroni, method of cooking, 

57 
use of, 59, 140 
Malt extracts in diet for nursing 

mother, 11 
Malted gruel, recipe for, 115 
Maple molasses gingerbread, rec- 
ipe for, 156 
Marshmallow drops, recipe for, 

154 
Meal, first morning, may be given 

from the bottle, 32 
Meat in diet of nursing mother, 10 
not to be given until child 

is thirty months old, 40 
powder, home-made, method 

of preparing, no 
stews, method of preparing, 

126 
spare use of, in hot weather, 

5 6 . 
Meats, boiled, degree of temper- 
ature necessary, 126 
Menu for fourteen to fifteen 
months old child, 35 
alternating, 35 
for nineteen to twenty 
months old child, 37 
alternating, 37 
for seventeen to eighteen 
months old child, 36 
alternating, 36 



INDEX 



171 



Menu for twelve to thirteen 
months old child, 32 
alternating, 34 
for twenty to thirty months 

old child, 38 
sample, for period of second 
dentition, 48 
Menus, breakfast, for child of five 
or six years, 47 
dinner, allowable after thirty 

months, 40 
need of varied, 27 
place of cereals in, 27 
summer dinner, for children 
from three to five years, 45 
week's, for a child of five 
years, 41 
Sunday, 41 
Monday, 42 
Tuesday, 42 
Wednesday, 43 
Thursday, 43 
Friday, 44 
Saturday, 44 
Milk, a source of transmission of 
infectious diseases, 17 
apparatus for heating, 18 

Dr. Freeman's, 19 
at night in diet of nursing 

mother, 11 
care necessary in preserva- 
tion of, 16 
precautions necessary in the 

keeping of, 18 
pure, requirements for, 16 
raw cows', changing to, in 

weaning, 15 
reason for pasteurization of, 17 
soup, recipes for, 105, 108 
temperature to which it 
should be heated, 19 
Milk-sugar, use of, in early feed- 
ing of an infant, 1 1 



Mitchell, Dr. S. Weir, recipe for 

food for invalids, 112 
Moravian cake, lecipe for, 123 
Morphine, treatment of poison- 
ing by, 79 
Mother, convenient daily routine 
for, 33 
nursing, diet for, 10 
exercise for, 9 
necessity for controlling 
her temperament, 9 
reasons why principles of 
food-action should be un- 
derstood by, 3 
should supervise preparation 
of food in illness, 4 
Muffins, cornmeal, recipe for, 118 
cream, recipe for, 118 
Graham, recipe for, 118 
Mulled egg, recipe for, 156 
Mutton and veal broth, recipe for, 
107 
tea, recipe for, 107 

Night feeding for infants, 12 

of children, 34 
Nipple, bottle, care of, 20 
Nitrate of silver, treatment of 

poisoning by, 79 
Nursery foods, classes of, 50 
Nursing, ideal conditions for, 9 
intervals for, 1 1 
reasons for not, 10 
Nux vomica, treatment of poison- 
ing by, 79 

Oatmeal blancmange, recipe 
for, 117 
gruel, recipe for, 113 
jelly, recipe for, 1 17 
porridge, recipe for, 116 
Oil of vitriol, treatment of poi- 
soning by, 78 



172 



INDEX 



Omelet, corn, recipe for, 56 

onion, recipe for, 56 
Onion, method of cooking, 132 

omelet, recipe for, 56 
Opium (paregoric), treatment of 

poisoning by, 79 
Orange jelly, recipe for, 152 

syrup, recipe for, 155 
Oxalic acid, treatment of poison- 
ing by, 78 
Oyster broth, recipe for, 109 

Parry, Dr. John S., on preva- 
lence of rachitis, 67 
Partridge, method of cooking, 

131 

Peaches, use of, 146 

Peas, method of cooking, 134 

Pheasant, method of cooking, 131 

Pineapple, use of, 146 

Poached egg, method of cooking, 

112 
Poisoning, rules for cases of, 76 
Poisons, antidotes for, 77 

antimonial wine, 78 

aqua fortis, 78 

arsenic, 78 

bed bug poison, 78 

bicarbonate of potassium, 78 

blue vitriol, 78 

carbolic acid, 78 

carbonate of sodium, 79 

caustic potash, 78 

caustic soda, 78 

chloral hydrate, 78 

chloroform, 78 

cobalt, 79 

copperas, 79 

corrosive sublimate, 78 

Fowler's solution, 78 

hydrochloric acid, yS 

laudanum, 79 

lead-water, 78 



Poisons, antidotes for, morphine, 

nitrate of silver, 79 

nux vomica, 79 

oil of vitriol, 78 

opium (paregoric), 79 

oxalic acid, 78 

red precipitate, 78 

saltpetre, 78 

strychnine ( rat and beetle poi- 
son), 79 

sugar of lead, J 8 

sulphate of zinc, 78 

tartar emetic, 78 

vermilion, 78 

volatile alkali, 78 

white precipitate, 78 
Porridge, farina, recipe for, 117 

oatmeal, recipe for, 116 

wheat, recipe for, 116 
Potato soup, recipe for, 109 
Potatoes, method of cooking, 139 
Proteids, 50 

Prune jelly, recipe for, 153 
Pudding, bread, recipe for, 158 

fruit tapioca, recipe for, 149 

rice, with eggs, recipe for, 

157 

without eggs, recipe for, 

157 
snow, recipe for, 158 

Rachitis, Dr. Gee on prevalence 
of, 67 
Dr. Parry on prevalence of, 

67 

Raspberries, use of, 144 
Raspberry blancmange, recipe 

for, 150 
Recipes, 100 

apple sauce, 136 

snow, 151 
apple-water, 153 



INDEX 



173 



Recipes, arrowroot gruel, 115 
barley broth, 106 

gruel, 114 
barley-water with white of 

eg& 1 59 
beef broth, 104 
essence, 107 



juice. 



06 



tea, 107 
blackberry jelly, 147 
bread, 119 

jelly, 156 

pudding, 158 
broth, barley, 106 

beef, 104 

chicken, 105, 108 

clam, 109 

mutton and veal, 107 

oyster, 109 

veal, 107 
brown Betty, 149 
browned flour gruel, 115 
cherry jelly, 150 
chicken broth, 105, 108 
clam broth, 109 
clarified apples, 153 
corn omelet, 56 
cornmeal muffins, 118 

mush, 116, 118 
cream gruel, 114 

muffins, 118 
custard, chicken, 108 

cup, 161 

egg, without milk, no 

savory breakfast, 112 

strawberry, 149 
dates and cream, 151 
egg custard without milk, 

no 
farina gruel, 1 14 

porridge, 117 
fruit sauce, 1 54 

tapioca pudding, 149 



Recipes, Graham muffins, 118 
grape juice, 147 
gruel, arrowroot, 1 15 

barley, 114 

browned flour, 115 

cream, 114 

farina, 114 

malted, 115 

oatmeal, 113 
hominy, 116 
Irish moss tea, 153 
jellied apples, 151 
jelly, blackberry, 147 

bread, 156 

cherry, 150 

oatmeal, 117 

orange, 1 52 

prune, 153 

rhubarb, 151 

sago, 152 

savory, 109 
junkets, 160 
koumyss, 158 
lime-water, 155 
malted gruel, 115 
maple molasses gingerbread, 

156 

marshmallow drops, 154 
meat powder, home-made, 
no 

stews, 126 
milk soup, 105, 108 
Moravian cake, 123 
muffins, cornmeal, 1 18 

cream, 118 

Graham, 1 18 
mulled egg, 156 
mutton and veal broth, 107 

tea, 107 
oatmeal blancmange, 117 

gruel, 113 

jelly, 117 

porridge, 116 



174 



INDEX 



Recipes, omelet, corn, 56 
onion, 56 
onion omelet, 56 
orange jelly, 152 

sy^p, 155 

oyster broth, 1 09 
poached eggs, 112 
porridge, farina, 117 
oatmeal, 116 
wheat, 116 
potato soup, 109 
prune jelly, 153 
pudding, bread, 158 
fruit tapioca, 149 
rice, with eggs, 157 
without eggs, 157 
snow, 158 
raspberry blancmange, 150 
rhubarb and orange jam, 150 
jam, 152 
jelly, 151 
mould, 152 
rice-water, 155 
roast-beef gravy, no 
sago jelly, 152 
savory breakfast custard, 112 

jelly, 109 
sponge cake, 156 
strawberry custard, 149 
tapioca with chicken or 

meat jelly, in 
veal broth, 107 
Red precipitate, treatment of poi- 
soning by, 78 
Rhubarb and orange jam, recipe 
for, 150 
jam, recipe for, 152 
jelly, recipe for, 151 
mould, recipe for, 152 
Rice, method of cooking, 138 
milk, recipe for, 155 
pudding with eggs, recipe 
for, 157 



Rice pudding, without eggs, 

recipe for, 157 
Rice-water, recipe for, 155 
Roast beef, method of cooking, 

127 
Roast-beef gravy, method of 

preparing, 1 10 
Rotch, Dr. Thomas M., on diet 
for nursing mother, 1 1 
on food for children after 

thirty months, 39 
on giving cake and candy to 

infants, 62 
on use of fruit, 144, 146 
suggestions for feeding a 
twelve months old child, 

30 
tableof intervals and amounts 

in substitute feeding, 23 
table of number of feedings, 

n 

Sago jelly, recipe for, 152 

Salads, use of, 141 

Saltpetre, treatment of poisoning 

by, 78 _ 
Sauce, fruit, recipe for, 154 
School children, diet for, 79 

Dr. W. Gilman Thomp- 
son on diet for, 82 
diet, a sample, 86 
gardens, 98 
luncheons, 89 

in the Philadelphia Nor- 
mal School for Girls, 

91 
Professor Dutton on, 95 

Service, dainty, importance of, 54 

Sleeplessness, importance of cor- 
recting, 58 

Smith, Dr. Eustace, on artificial 
rearing of infants, 3 

Snow pudding, recipe for, 158 



INDEX 



175 



Soup, milk, recipe for, 105, 108 

potato, recipe for, 109 
Soups, use of vegetables in, 102 
Spencer, Herbert, on preserva- 
tion of health, 7 
Spaghetti, method of preparing, 

57, Mi 
Spinach, method of cooking, 132 
Sponge-cake, recipe for, 156 
Squabs, method of cooking, 131 
Starch food, home-made prepara- 
tion of, for infants, 15 
Starvation, tissue, 6 
Stews, meat, method of prepar- 
ing, 126 
Stimulants, harmful in diet of 

nursing mother, 10 
Stomach, infant's, size of, at 

birth, 25 
Strauss, Nathan, 20 
Strawberries, use of, 145 
Strawberry custard, recipe for, 149 
Strychnine (rat paste), treatment 

of poisoning by, 79 
Sugar, amount of, permissible, 62 

use of, on cereals, 63 
Sugar of lead, treatment of poi- 
soning by, 78 
Sulphate of zinc, treatment of 

poisoning by, 78 
Summer breakfasts, 53 

suggestions for, for chil- 
dren from three to five 
years old, 45 
desserts, use of, as supple- 
mentary foods, 57 
diet, 52 
suppers, 57, 61 
Supper dishes, simple, for sum- 
mer and winter, 61 
Suppers, summer, 57 
Sweetbreads, method of cooking, 
127 



Tapioca, use of, in summer diet, 

with chicken or meat jelly, 
recipe for, III 
Tartar emetic, treatment of poi- 
soning by, 78 
Tea, beef, recipe for, 107 

Irish moss, recipe for, 153 
Thompson, Dr. W. Gilman, on 
diet for school children, 
82 
on dietetics, 75 
on feeble children, 81 
on general rules for feeding 

young children, 29 
on method of cooking eggs, 
129 
Thompson, Sir Henry, on dis- 
eases caused by errors in 
diet, 7 
on use of macaroni, 140 
Tissue starvation, 6 
Tomatoes, method of cooking, 

135 
Turkey, roasted, part to use, 131 
Typhoid fever, diet in, 75 

Undigested food, manner in 
which harm is caused by, 5 

Veal broth, recipe for, 107 
Vegetables, use of, in soups and 
broths, 102 
use of, in the nursery, 132 
Vermicelli, method of cooking, 

Hi % 

Vermilion, treatment of poison- 
ing by, 78 

Volatile alkali, treatment of poi- 
soning by, 78 

Walker, Dr. Jane H., on treat, 
ment of cases of poisoning, 75 



176 



INDEX 



Walker, Dr. Jerome, on " ani- 
mal-crackers," 122 
Waste and repair in children, 1, 2 
Water, importance of drinking 
sufficient, 61 
use of, 5, 76 
Weaning, changing from pre- 
pared milk to raw cows' 
milk, 15 
method of substituting bot- 
tle food, 13 
proper time for, 13 
Weight of infant as an index to 
nutrition, 12 



Wheat porridge, recipe for, 

116 
White precipitate, treatment of 

poisoning by, 78 
Wine whey, recipe for, 159 
Winter breakfasts, combinations 
for, 47 
simple supper dishes for, 61 

Yale, Dr. , on use of vegetables 
in soups and broths, 102 

Yeo, Dr. I. Burney, on diet for 
school children, 79 



mi 



3ft 1902 



JUL 30 1902 

icopvnei. to cat mv. 

JUL. 30 t902 
1902 



